Chapter 152

#152 Episode: The Tin Knight and the City of Scales (12)

As the hands of the clock turned back slightly, the Tin Knight and Sophia were just exiting Justitia.

“Operation begins in five minutes. Lady Adelheid.”

“Yes.”

At the words of Maris’s subordinate, Adelheid quietly donned her mask.

The mask she’d worn in the city of struggle was essentially just a decorative item, not very effective in concealing her identity, but this one was different.

It wasn’t just about covering her face; it was a magical mask that made it hard for anyone nearby to recognize the wearer. Truly, a family that excels shows it in every detail.

‘…Come to think of it, did Maris realize back then that it was me, or not?’

Adel’s thoughts lingered on her oddly perplexed cousin’s attitude, but she quickly shook off distractions as it wouldn’t do to lose focus before an important mission.

The team assigned to Adelheid consisted of two members.

Rather than being treated with special disdain, the team for this operation was just ten people in total.

While it wasn’t enough personnel to cover even a mid-level territory, it demonstrated how particular Maris had been in selecting the team.

“Anyway, the best course of action is to avoid being caught by the guards. If things get bad even a little, prioritize escaping over completing the objectives.”

Recalling the final advice she’d heard before the operation started, Adelheid gazed at her right wrist.

There lay something that resembled a wristwatch, but its actual use was closer to that of a compass.

At the moment the designated time arrived, Adelheid took off running in the direction indicated by the compass.

As the needle of the compass, which had been white, transformed to a shade of purple, she spotted a middle-aged man adorned with a strap-like decoration on his shoulder.

Upon spotting Adelheid and the Lenart personnel, he gestured toward a nearby tavern with his hands and eyes.

Confirming that the man’s appearance matched the portrait she’d seen earlier, Adelheid rushed in without hesitation.

“Hey.”

Before the man could even react to Adelheid unexpectedly landing on the table, Adel’s hand gripped his head firmly.

BAM!

With a knee strike that added weight and momentum, the man’s face was smashed, sending a few pieces of corn flying from his mouth.

Grabbing the collar of the man, who was about to topple backward in his chair, she slammed him onto the ground.

There was no need to kill him, but it should be done in a fashion that conveys the horror to those around.

She moved with extreme fidelity to the given instructions. In fact, it wasn’t very difficult for Adel. She just needed to do as she’d learned from the Tin Knight.

She’d learned how to do things just right while teaching her apprentices at TikTok, but the ruthless attacks on vital spots and their counters were engraved in her bones.

Leaving the man who swooned without a single scream behind, she surveyed the surroundings and saw that her fellow team members had mercilessly crushed their assigned ‘targets.’

Turning her gaze back to the middle-aged man she had first spotted, he inclined his head slightly so as not to draw attention from the others and fiddled with something in his pocket.

At that moment, the blue needle of the compass turned white once again, and then it began to point in a new direction.

Adelheid took off running in that direction.

“I memorized all the portraits you handed me. But wouldn’t it take too long to find each one while running around the city?”

“That’s when this compass comes in handy.”

“Wow, is it a magical device that automatically marks members of the Lenart family’s opponents?”

“Huh? No, it’s not that convenient. It’s just a compass that tracks the magical waves emitted by specific markings. Normally, you’d use it by sneaking it into the target’s belongings, but since there are many targets this time, we’ll use it differently. I mentioned that the operation is split into an execution team and a support team, right?”

“Yes.”

“The support team will follow around the targets they need to take down with the markings, and when the execution team discovers someone with the strap decoration on their shoulder while the compass needle turns blue, just check the area nearby. Once the execution team takes care of the target, that support team member will destroy their marking and escape outside the city. The execution team will then look for another support member in the new direction indicated by the compass. We’ll repeat this process.”

According to the outline of the operation Maris had explained, Adel and her execution team were running rampant.

“Gah!”

“Argh!”

Watching the Lenart family members effortlessly dispatch enemies around her, Adelheid couldn’t help but admire them inwardly.

‘Everyone is so strong.’

The targets weren’t just ordinary thieves or ruffians.

In fact, to put it proportionately, there were more strong individuals who could wield magical power.

Each one was so powerful that describing them as superhuman by normal standards wouldn’t be an overstatement.

Yet, the warriors of the Lenart family showed no signs of struggle in continuously overpowering such individuals.

They took down typical targets in less than five seconds.

Maris had said that the true strength of the Lion Duke’s bloodline was mostly concentrated in the north and the main family, so there were few elite capable of being deployed in this area of the Rocria Federation.

Saying it conversely meant that there were plenty of strong individuals of this caliber along the border facing the Magical Kingdom and the Duke of Lenart.

‘Were Friedel’s knights this strong as well?’

People can see what they know.

Though Adel had seen the Friedel Knights during their heyday many times, she had been a powerless little lady back then, so she couldn’t accurately gauge how strong the knight order was. Her recollections were vague.

This realization was quite melancholic for Adel.

“We’re going to head in another direction now.”

After clearing out a group of clustered targets a few times, the other members who had been with Adel also set off in the direction pointed by their compasses.

Instead of completely dispersing and moving from the get-go, it was more efficient to take down a cluster of targets whose movements were relatively predictable before each moving on to individual targets… at least, that was Maris’s explanation, but Adel couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somewhat considerate of her.

With all the goodwill pouring from somewhere even though not much had been done, Adel took down her targets one after another.

‘I think I understand why Maris was trying to gather as many capable individuals as possible.’

If not for the support team and the compass, finding people in combat would have been a much tougher job.

Honestly speaking, even with those two, finding people was still harder than fighting.

“Over there! There it is!”

“Grab it quickly!”

Maybe she was a bit unlucky.

A group of guards that didn’t know which unfolding incident to respond to blocked Adel’s path.

Under her mask, Adel’s eyes quickly scanned the guards’ shapes.

‘Weak, medium, weak, weak, weak, weak, medium, weak.’

Ducking under the spears thrusting toward her, Adel dove right into the fray, aiming for the one she judged as ‘medium.’

The magically enhanced opponent pulled back while trying to dodge attacks, but before he could, Adel’s hand had already touched his armor.

The smooth surface of his armor wasn’t particularly good for one-handed gripping, but Amaryllis’s belt enabled her to bend the armor with her fingers.

Grabbing hold of the opponent using the makeshift handle, she hurled him at another ‘medium’ guard before he could react.

The other medium guard, who had been attempting to swing his sword at Adel, couldn’t respond in time to his comrade crashing into him, and the two found themselves tangled and shoved against the wall.

The ‘weak’ guards stood dumbfounded, not realizing what was happening.

─[‘The Tin Knight’ declares it a nice strike!]

Feeling as though she heard the Tin Knight’s praise from somewhere, a slight smile appeared on Adel’s lips.

Having adapted to the Tin Knight’s style of speech, her companions’ vocabulary was becoming richer by the day.

“Captain!!”

From behind, one of the soldiers shouted, but Adel ignored him and continued racing toward her next target.

The remaining soldiers didn’t even dare to attempt to catch up with her.

Minutes slipped by.

After dodging the scythe of a warrior with a large scar on his face, Adel struck him in the face with her sword.

She realized that her compass no longer indicated any new targets.

For her, this meant that she had finished off all the targets assigned to her.

Following the predetermined plan, Adel began to run toward the city’s outskirts.

Though the guards tried desperately to catch Adel, no one could stop her.

That was how it should have been.

A chill ran down her spine.

Instinctively, Adel looked up at the sky.

And she was momentarily transfixed.

High, truly high.

If not for her enhanced sight from her belt and the magical reinforcement, she wouldn’t have been able to see what was falling from so high up.

Initially appearing as a shimmering droplet of light, it split into several fragments as it descended closer to the ground, and moments later, it fell with a physical presence.

BOOM!

Each time the emerald slab hit the ground, an immense shockwave rocked the entire city.

Screams erupted from everywhere, and people lost their balance and fell.

Facing a blocked escape route, Adel gaped in shock.

“What, what is happening!? Was it an earthquake!?”

“Wait, everyone look at that!”

“A wall has formed…?”

After the tremors ceased, murmurings of confusion and bewilderment spread across the crowd.

It was only natural since the entire city had been enclosed by the emerald wall without any prior warning.

《─Dear residents of Justitia, please calm yourselves.》

Through the chaos, a voice echoed throughout the city.

《Currently, there are criminals attempting to flee after committing offenses throughout the city. We have temporarily isolated the city to prevent the escape of these wrongdoers, so there is no need for you to fear.》

Amplified by some sort of loudspeaker magic, that voice was all too familiar to the citizens of Justitia.

《The offenders are currently using magical devices to conceal their appearances, making it difficult to identify them by mere appearance. Additionally, there may be collaborators within the city who are directly or indirectly aiding these criminals. Thus, we will commence a trial that will take the entire city as its stage from now on.》

The voice belonged to none other than the Lord of Justitia.

《What you need to do is simple. Approach the emerald scales in the city center. And the scales carried by the guards. Confess to them.》

He declared.

《I have committed no sin in this city. I am innocent.》

The murmurs of the crowd surged rapidly.

《Those who prove their innocence will be classified separately and will not suffer any consequences from this incident. However, those who fail to ‘prove their innocence’ within the next hour will be deemed sinners without exception. Moreover, those who disturb the trial or obstruct its progress will also be judged as sinners.》

The Lord’s voice was benevolent, yet its contents were extremely oppressive.

Someone in the crowd shouted.

“Don’t be ridiculous!! How can this be a solution to this mess?!”

“Yeah! Just catch the criminals, why drag us into this too!”

“Hey, even if you’re the lord, you can’t just pass this tyranny!”

“Hey, guards! Can you explain what the hell is going on?!”

“Uh, well, you see…”

The crowd was furious, and their anger was directed toward the guards.

The guards themselves seemed equally perplexed, as it appeared they hadn’t been informed of anything and were left at a loss upon facing the enraged citizens.

But this moment of confusion was brief.

From the scales they possessed, emerald energy began to flow out, enveloping the guards.

Initially looking bewildered, their expressions and tones changed shortly thereafter.

“There’s no need to panic. Please confess your innocence. If you are truly innocent, nothing will happen to you.”

“Wait, but—”

“Are you refusing to comply with the trial?”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding! I’m going to personally go and tell the lord!”

“I ask again. Are you refusing to comply with the trial?”

“Oh! I’m saying I’m NOT going to go!”

SWISH!

The next moment.

The head of the man who had declared he would refuse the trial flew off into the air.

Among the frozen crowd, a guard clad in emerald energy said.

“Scales. Judgment for this one who refuses to be tried.”

The scales the guards held tilted greatly, and the next moment, the man’s corpse was sucked in like a beam of light by the scales.

In the air, the Lord’s voice echoed once more.

《Now, everyone. Confess your sins and pay the price. Do not worry. If you are truly innocent, there will be no consequence.》

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