Chapter 172

#172 Episode: The Tin Knight and the Short but Distant Voyage (4)

When a person falls into the sea, they experience a multitude of sensations.

Their skin shivers from the cold, they can’t breathe due to water blocking their nose and mouth, and even opening their eyes to the intense saltiness is a feat in itself.

But for you, none of this mattered.

You didn’t know cold, you weren’t breathing, and you weren’t seeing the world with your eyes.

Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

Your heavy body was rapidly sinking downwards even now.

It was impossible to swim your way back up, so you had to use the magical power inside you as propulsion to move toward the surface.

Just as you emerged, head above water—

**Kuuuuung!**

With a terrifying impact, your body, which had just met the sun, was shoved back down into the depths once more.

Peering through the half-crushed helmet, you realized what was happening.

You had been hit by a pirate ship helmed by Captain Bill.

You attempted to pull yourself above water again, but as expected, the approaching pirate ship crashed into you once more. You were flung under the surface again.

Feeling confused, instead of trying to escape, you just stared up at the surface.

At the edge of the pirate ship’s deck, a crew member with eels sprouting where his hair should be fixed a single eye with a cross-shaped pupil directly on you.

The sea was turbulent due to the ship, yet his gaze remained steady upon you.

You decided to change tactics and moved toward the bottom of the pirate ship.

You wanted to avoid being watched, and thought it would be more stable to climb up the hull like a mountain climber.

But your sword aimed at the ship’s bottom only sliced through the amorphous water.

The pirate ship dodged just before your blade could make contact.

And it dodged upward.

You felt a moment of perplexity.

[‘The Tin Knight’ questions where in the world a ship moves up and down!]

This was an absurd situation that couldn’t possibly happen to an ordinary ship, but you had no time to ponder the mechanism behind it.

If it’s possible to move up, then moving down just as easily means the reverse is true.

And your ominous feelings were justified.

**Puhhhrak!**

A massive ship came crashing downwards, flattening you with its monumental weight.

No matter how you tried, you couldn’t hold your ground against such mass in a place with no foothold, solely relying on magical power for stability.

You were pushed downwards much further and more forcefully than ever before.

That wasn’t the only misfortune.

**Plop! Plop!**

The waters around the pirate ship erupted as non-human crew members fell into the sea.

Your severed upper and lower bodies had somehow been reconnected again.

“────!”

A pirate, looking like he had an octopus on his head, pointed a weapon at you, giving a silent command.

Along with that, pirates whose body parts had transformed into sea creatures surged toward you with an impossibly fast and agile movement that no ordinary person could muster.

Multiple blades flew toward you from all directions.

The magical power imbued in those knives revealed just how elite these pirates were.

They say even the dullest dog can bark poetry after three years, and it seemed these pirates had certainly reached some level of proficiency after so long in their trade.

**Kachink!**

Your sword clashed with the pirates’.

You emerged victorious, but there was no joy in your heart.

As they swung their desperately trained blades, you had no choice but to counter with your own mastery, and you could see their severed body parts rejoining like some twisted action figure.

If you truly decided to grind your opponents to dust, you could, but your magical power wasn’t that plentiful.

Simply staying afloat was draining your magical reserves endlessly.

It seemed the enemies were well aware, as they continued to seize you, preventing your escape to the surface.

The pirates may have been weaker than you, but they possessed enough skill to leave marks on your metallic body, and more importantly, they repeated their resurrection without a care.

You felt the urgent necessity to break free by any means necessary.

**Vroom Vroom Vroom.**

The sword in your hand spun with the swiftness of a propeller.

The pirates tried to block you, but one after another, they turned to ground beef and scattered into the sea.

Just as you were about to create a large hole in the bottom of the pirate ship, something glimmering gold slipped into your path.

《Where do you think you’re hurrying off to, my friend?》

Captain Bill, with his golden skull body, surprisingly forced you to a halt.

The magical blades you hadn’t countered splashed across his body, but this seemed a trivial matter as he smiled from the corner of his golden skull.

《The sea is cold and rough, and above all, very greedy. Even for someone like me who has been pillaging for a long time, it’s impossible to estimate just how vast and deep this thing’s belly truly is. What do you say? Want to find out for yourself?》

Despite being underwater, you understood him perfectly.

His words felt like a power closer to magic than the typical knightly technique or body enhancement.

Instead of answering a question no one could hear, you just moved your sword again.

With nonexistent footholds, the water’s drag hindering your movements, and all sorts of obstacles in sight, the ‘Tin Knight’s’ skills still shone bright.

Captain Bill managed to withstand three strikes from you, but then he had to sacrifice his sword-wielding right arm.

《Oh, you’re strong, truly strong! I’ve lived a tiresome life, but I can count on one hand the number of strong ones like you I’ve encountered.》

But then he added,

《It seems we’re above here in the sea.》

**Swoosh.**

At the flash of danger behind you, you quickly swung your sword.

You cleaved a hulking man wearing a Viking helmet in two, but with just his upper body left, he wrapped around you, trapping you.

Additionally, several other pirates clung to your body, hindering your movements.

Captain Bill shouted,

《My lovely lady, let us show our wrath to this intruder who has disrupted the end of this tiresome curse!》

In the next moment, the pirate ship with golden sails heeded its captain’s call.

Like a horse rearing back, the ship lifted its front part high and then slammed its hull straight down.

**Ka-boom!**

There was no avoiding it.

The sheer impact left you dazed and spinning, turning the hulking pirate holding you into ground meat.

You barely managed to regain your senses but quickly realized you were facing a massive issue.

Your body had sunk deeper than ever before.

And the power reserve was nearly depleted.

You instinctively unleashed your magical power toward the surface, but soon sensed the dire truth.

No matter how you used your magic now, it wasn’t enough to reach the ground.

Your vision blurred and eventually turned pitch black.

Just as the Tin Knight was about to separate from you outside the screen.

Someone’s touch reached you.

Like oil cleaning a rusted doll, a faint and mystical magic filled your body.

The flickering light within you, which felt like it was about to disappear, reignited with renewed brilliance.

You saw it.

Blue eyes. Black hair. White skin.

Your contractor, your master, your witch.

Dorothea was right there.

You were about to ask her why she was here, but you had to stop yourself.

A red something was spreading mistily around her.

It was blood flowing from deep-looking wounds visible all over her body.

Her usual cloak and the staff she held were nowhere to be seen.

This was, of course, quite natural. Submerging to a depth like this during a chaotic sea battle, while carrying such cumbersome items, was almost impossible.

But at the same time, it meant she had left behind her means of defense.

**Grab.**

Dorothea firmly held your head, causing you to freeze in place while she leaned in close.

Despite her wounds and bleeding, her gaze remained unwavering.

You couldn’t see the shape of her mouth due to the leaf she held, but you immediately understood what she wanted to say just by the fierce gleam in her eyes.

In the best guess,

‘—Are you just going to keep taking this? Get it together already! Is the contract a joke?’

The witch freely offered you the magical power to move. And you protected the witch’s safety.

If you were to escort, then you had to fulfill your role, and the witch glared at you with an upset face.

You felt a sense of delight.

This audacious witch truly never failed to keep you entertained.

You embraced the witch.

And positioned your sword forward.

Pirates were approaching, but it was already too late.

Once again, the rotation of your sword, which you had previously displayed, unfurled.

The difference was in scale.

While the earlier rotation was barely thicker than your waist, this one dwarfed it by dozens of times.

This was your power, that of the Tin Knight, disregarding any concerns about magical consumption or efficiency.

What initially felt relaxed turned into a titanic storm in the blink of an eye.

Everything that came into contact with it was ground to dust, yet the center remained peaceful amidst the chaotic dance of swords.

Captain Bill’s shout and that of his crew, the stunning and magnificent golden pirate ship—all were nothing but debris before the whirlwind.

**Splashhhh!**

With the largest splash yet, you and Dorothea burst forth from the surface.

You skillfully adjusted your landing to touch down on the ship where Adel and Sophia were.

All to minimize the shock and prevent Dorothea’s wounds from worsening.

Your companions and the temporary allies from the pirates gaped at you with their jaws dropped.

Sophia raised her hand with a smile, drawing upon her divine power.

Adelheid let out a sigh of relief while loosening her grip on her sword.

You deliberately didn’t look back at where Captain Bill and his crew had been.

The sea was calm.

As if nothing had ever happened.

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