Chapter 193

#193 Trudvangar Branch: The Tin Knight and the Crossroads of Swords and Magic (3)

“─Master, he’s not here.”

About 30 minutes after entering the city, Gale remarked while sweeping a glance over the Tower of Annihilation near its entrance.

The simplicity of her comment prompted Dorothea to question her with skepticism etched on her face.

“Did you check properly? If you’re just messing around to pull a fast one on me, I’ll seriously make it a life-and-death matter later.”

“Well, chasing around a life-and-death matter in rags is bound to be a delightful life for someone like you, who has to wear them forever.”

“Hey!”

Gale shrugged her shoulders.

“Helping to find the Master was a result of our duel, right? No way I’d joke about something like that; that would undermine even the fight between Sig and me.”

Under the seriousness of her tone, Dorothea’s anger started to wane.

“Then, what do we do? We just need to finish the modifications and pass Adel’s exam quickly and move on to the next place.”

“Well, since it’s my first time trying this, I’m not so sure I can just whip it up quickly.”

“Just give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, we can continue inside the wagon or at the next city. What’s there to worry about?”

That’s how the group split into two.

Dorothea and Gale, the two knights, opted for a high-end lodging with ample space for the modifications.

Adelheid and Sophia headed to Lenart Dojo for Adel’s exam.

“Uh, is Sophia coming with me too?”

Dorothea replied flatly to Adel, who tilted her head in confusion.

“There might be trouble like we had in the City of Scales again. It’s better to avoid going solo as much as possible, and with Sophia around, you won’t get tricked into some bizarre plan like last time.”

“Ha, haha, ahaha.”

At Dorothea’s biting remark, Adel let out a dry laugh.

In Adelheid’s view, what happened in Justitia was more like being caught in an unexpected storm than purely Maris’s fault, but Dorothea seemed to think otherwise.

“And, take this little guy too.”

-Sqwaak!

A little bone mouse sprang out from Dorothea’s feet and stood in front of Adelheid.

“Ah, mouse!”

As Adelheid reached out, the mouse lightly hopped onto her hand.

It had a red gem embedded in its forehead, indicating it wasn’t just an ordinary bone mouse; it was a special bone mouse that had the vision-sharing ability used during the Rapunzel rescue operation.

With this, if anything happened to Adel or Sophia, both Dorothea and the Tin Knight would be able to notice and respond immediately.

Gale, watching from the side, commented.

“Geez, pretty overprotective, aren’t we? I doubt any mom would fuss this much over a kid’s first errand.”

“Who’s the mom here? Do you think I want to do this?”

Dorothea replied, irritated.

“I’d like to leave things be and not micromanage! But every time I do, things go south! I can’t just drag everyone along everywhere, so I have to prepare like this.”

“Um.”

Adel nodded, pondering.

Thinking back on their journey where incidents happened every time they stayed in a somewhat larger city, Dorothea’s worries could hardly be considered excessive.

[‘The Tin Knight’ prepares with people, but in the end, it’s heaven that decides!]

[‘The Tin Knight’ says that no matter how thoroughly prepared they are, things will still go haywire, so it’s better for mental health to take it easy!]

“Hmm, Tin, I don’t think that phrase is meant to be understood like that.”

[‘The Tin Knight’ says if you’re unlucky, you can break your nose just by falling backward!]

“Sounds somewhat accurate?”

“Ah, um! I’m off now!”

Adel felt that if she left it as is, they could waste half a day on mere wordplay, so she grabbed Sophia and half-dragged her away from the spot.

The cheerful waving of the Tin Knight stood in stark contrast to the heavy-duty White Knight beside her.

***

Finding Lenart Dojo wasn’t too hard.

Actually, it had always been easy to find places related to the Lion Duke’s Bloodline.

Lenart’s building was always grand and wielded considerable influence in the city.

But…

“It’s rather desolate, isn’t it?”

Sofia remarked, to which Adel nodded in agreement.

The building itself didn’t seem shabby or worn out.

The surrounding walls were smoothly painted without a single scratch or graffiti, and the building was among the largest in the city, aside from the recently checked Tower of Annihilation.

However, that was about it.

While the exterior appeared magnificent, it felt disturbingly empty of the bustle that should fill the interior.

In truth, the passersby didn’t even approach the dojo, let alone visit it.

If it were like the City of Scales, with temporarily closed doors, that would be one thing. But seeing a dojo that was fully operational being completely ignored was quite shocking for Adelheid.

“Well, in the Empire, from the Magical Kingdom’s perspective, Lenart is like the vanguard of the enemy. They showed some reconciliation under the Ironblood Emperor’s rule, but after he died, a strange tension follows. So I suppose this kind of atmosphere isn’t too surprising.”

“…Sofia, does reading books really provide that kind of content?”

Adelheid thought, perhaps simple academic knowledge or distant history might be detailed, but modern history with relevant parties still alive probably wouldn’t be laid out like that in books.

“It sometimes does and sometimes it doesn’t. But books reflect the times, you see. Both what’s written and what’s not.”

With her somewhat ambiguous reply, Sophia gestured, ‘please do go on.’

Adelheid stepped forward and pulled the rope hanging near the front gate in response.

Dong- Dong- Dong-

The metallic sound resonated, neither too heavy like a great bell tower nor too light like a bell.

The response was quite slow.

After counting to thirty with no reaction, just as Adelheid was about to ring the bell again, the heavy iron door creaked open, revealing a man inside.

A young man, looking to be in his early to mid-twenties, quickly scanned Adelheid and Sophia with his gaze.

“What brings you here?”

“We’ve come for an exam.”

“Um, do you come from another dojo? Do you perhaps have a token?”

“Yes, here it is.”

Adelheid handed over the locket containing three fan-shaped tokens.

Seeing the incomplete golden lion emblem, the young man’s eyes widened in awe.

With a look of respect, he bowed his head again.

“Welcome to our dojo. Please, come inside.”

As they stepped in, the interior felt considerably more populated compared to the coldness outside.

However, Adelheid felt a subtle sense of discomfort.

‘…It seems like there are hardly any well-trained people here?’

It wasn’t about laziness or negligence in training.

The dojo’s interior was teeming with people who either didn’t practice swordsmanship at all or seemed to have learned just enough for basic self-defense.

In sync with Adelheid’s question, Sophia remarked,

“It seems there are quite a few clerks?”

The man guiding them nodded.

“Yes, that’s correct. Our dojo also serves as a gateway between the Empire and the Magical Kingdom. Apart from the martial artists from our dojo, there are quite a number of civil officials dispatched from the Imperial Court.”

Adelheid tilted her head.

“So, does that make it dangerous?”

Having seen many outsiders targeting dojo members in the City of Scales, she found it unsettling that they would deploy such a small number of martial artists against potential threats, despite the temporary peace agreement.

The young man fell silent at Adelheid’s question.

It wasn’t that he was offended by the inquiry; rather, he looked like he was pondering how to explain it.

Fortunately for him, an answer came from elsewhere.

“─On the contrary. By not deploying many combatants, we are rather safe from external threats.”

“Representative Instructor.”

The man referred to as the representative instructor was a middle-aged man with a gentle expression.

Despite the perennial late aging typical of the Lion Duke’s Bloodline, one could easily mistake him for an elderly man upon observing the soft wrinkles on his face.

Adelheid instinctively lowered her head in greeting.

“Hello, I’m—”

“Oh, no need for that. Let’s step inside first.”

He said so and opened the door behind him as he stepped in.

It seemed like he had been waiting for Adelheid’s arrival on purpose, knowing she was coming.

The young man who had guided them seemed to bow out of his duties and remained outside the room, leaving only the man, Adelheid, and Sophia in the reception area.

Welcoming them without a single escort or attendant, the man nodded without hesitation.

“I am Norman, the Representative Instructor of Lenart Dojo, Trudvangar Branch.”

“I’m Adelheid…”

The reason Adel’s words trailed off was because she hesitated over whether to reveal her last name.

While it might be fine elsewhere in the Magical Kingdom, with someone who undoubtedly belonged to the Bloodline, she needed to be cautious about whether to disclose her family name.

After Sophia briefly introduced herself, Norman continued the conversation.

“I suspect you might find our dojo somewhat peculiar. However, unlike other dojos, it is impossible for us to gather a large number of followers or fiercely protect our place. No, we could do that if we wanted, but it would be foolish.”

“Foolish, you say?”

“This is the front yard of the Tower of Annihilation. They are highly aggressive and don’t fear our bloodline at all. If we attempted to protect ourselves through brute strength against them, our bloodline would have to take up residence here and pour resources into it. It doesn’t take a genius to know that it’s a waste to devote so many resources to just one dojo.”

Hence, he added that they had to think in reverse.

“As the Lion Duke’s Bloodline represents the Empire’s warriors, the Tower of Annihilation represents the Magical Kingdom’s warriors. Just as our bloodline holds its pride, so too does theirs.”

Gradually, Adelheid began to grasp what Norman was trying to articulate.

“By deploying fewer warriors and placing numerous clerks instead, it shows that we have no intention of competing forcefully, which makes it awkward for the other side to provoke us, right?”

“If a host at a feast attacks a guest who has come unarmed, no one would respect that host anymore. From their standpoint, it would definitely be frowned upon to strike an unarmed opponent who has laid down their weapons as a matter of pride. True, some lowly thugs might take advantage, but for that, a small number of skilled people can handle it adequately.”

“Ah, I see.”

Looking enlightened, Adelheid nodded, and Norman regarded her warmly as he took a small metallic fragment from his waist and placed it on the table.

It was a five-piece fan-shaped fragment emblazoned with a lion emblem, the token of Trudvangar.

“Adelheid, you already possess three tokens. This means there’s no need for a separate strength test. However, don’t mistake the Lion Duke’s Bloodline as merely strong warriors. If that were the case, they would have already perished in battle long ago. Therefore, I intend to test you in a different way.”

“A different way?”

Adelheid felt anxious.

Judging by the direction of the conversation, it seemed he wanted to test her knowledge or culture, fields in which she had little confidence.

As if reading her mind, Norman said,

“─I would like to assign you the role of the Peaceful Lion, bridging our dojo and the Tower.”

“Can’t we just fight instead?”

The little lion immediately called for a change, showing no hesitation at all.

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