Chapter 240

# Episode 240: The Tin Knight and the End of the North

The war is over.

With the Tower Master of Control, Rotbart, dead, and the tower itself rendered inoperable, not to mention the demise of Mombi, who could have been a trump card, the forces of Control had no chance left.

They had to manage the surrendering individuals, collect the remains of the dead, heal the wounded, inform other troops still at a standoff in different regions, and coordinate with other powers poking their noses in.

Given the massive scale of the conflict, just cleaning up afterward consumed quite a bit of effort and time.

Normally, such a tedious task would be left to the locals while the Tin Knight’s party would whisk off to their next destination, but this time was different.

There were several matters that the party needed to handle themselves.

Negotiating with the survivors from Lognir’s side was one of those significant tasks.

– The Tower of Control should officially acknowledge that all responsibility for this civil war lies with them and declare that everything they have previously made public was fabricated.

– They must explain the unjust deaths of the late Lord Friedel, August von Lenart, and his fighting comrades, and actively cooperate when further inquiry into the Duke Lenart family arises.

– The Tower of Control is to pay substantial compensation to the families of those from the Friedel Territory and those victimized by the conspiracy.

There were more demands, but those were the three that directly affected the Tin Knight’s party.

Each was a condition that could utterly tarnish the reputation of Control, yet they accepted.

In fact, they had no choice but to accept.

The state of Control was indeed a tragic sight.

Firstly, a majority of Lognir’s bloodline had been wiped out, leaving behind only retired elders and children who hadn’t yet ascended to the core of the tower, far removed from the ruling powers.

The only two surviving figures with control over the Lognir territory were Valdeus and Teur, and Valdeus was severely injured during the battle and mentally shattered, effectively out of commission.

“I’m truly sorry. If my mere words of apology aren’t enough, then I’m willing to offer my own neck. But please, don’t annihilate my kin.”

The only adult who could bear the responsibility as the representative of the bloodline was Teur, and he bowed his head without hesitation at the negotiating table.

Adelheid silently accepted his apology.

***

“…I see. Well, it’s a relief that at least one of them with a bit of sense survived.”

“Anyone in that situation would likely hold onto their wits, right? No point in getting prideful if it only leads to their own downfall.”

“Gale, you just don’t know. There are truly daft individuals in this world. They might push all the blame onto the deceased Rotbart, insist they had no part in it, or threaten that if one tower falls, they’ll be fine while another falls, or cling to sympathy without any basis. Just the fact they didn’t pull that nonsense is in my eyes a solid win. Oh, could you hand me that apple over there? As you can see, my hands are like this.”

As she spoke, the Master of the Tower of Guardian raised her fluttering sleeves, and Gale brought her a sliced apple with a look of disbelief.

“Hmm, it’s delicious.”

“Didn’t the others not slice apples for you? Surely, those bad-tempered folks wouldn’t skimp on you, the Master?”

“The problem is they think it’s a horror show. Whenever I merely ask for something, they dramatically display their anguish and shift their gazes to my limbs, making it downright uncomfortable. I barely managed to survive that wicked witch’s hands, but if I were to weaken because of my disciples’ pitying looks, that would be a scandal to remember in history.”

The Master of the Tower of Guardian, Hermina, could only deem it sheer luck that she was saved.

During the process of restoring the wrecked tower, which Adelheid had reduced to debris, there was a massive internal inspection, and within that process, a secret room, known only to the tower master, was revealed. Hermina had been imprisoned within that room, her elbows and knees transformed into bizarre plants, likely to prevent her escape after all.

People speculated she was meant to be used to absorb the remaining powers of the Tower of Guardian after winning the war.

When the magicians from the Guardian side heard the news, they rushed to rescue their captain, and afterward, Hermina was treated with care so exaggerated that even she became annoyed, ordering them to tone it down.

Hermina was genuinely pleased to see Gale. This impudent girl had barely changed in attitude from the past.

She didn’t just ignore others; Hermina thought that even if she herself were in a similar predicament, she probably wouldn’t care much.

“Didn’t you say that even Holy Magic couldn’t heal that?”

“It’s the result of transformation, so it’s different from regular wounds. Well, since the party who cast the magic is dead, they’ll likely try to take it easy. If all else fails, using prosthetics could be an option. There’s a sudden surge of interest in magical automatons inside the tower, so adapting that technology, we might be able to produce something quite good.”

“Come to think of it, more people have been asking me about various things lately. Why do you suppose that is?”

“…You really don’t know?”

This time, it was Hermina’s turn to look incredulous.

Rumors about the Tin Knight’s party, Gale, and the White Knight had spread within the Magical Kingdom almost like legends.

The previous civil war had progressed rather swiftly, so there hadn’t been time for their deeds to properly come to light, but once the war ended and their feats were listed, it was a consistency of astonishment.

– Did two magical automatons indeed breach a castle packed with elite forces head-on?

– No, they didn’t attack simultaneously; each took down a castle on their own.

– They obliterated the enemy’s ancient capital with summoned undead from thin air? Was there such a necromancy?

– What about the time when they commanded thousands of undead all at once at the end?

– There was that girl from the Lion Duke’s bloodline who, not only took down an enemy tower master solo, but even completely wrecked the tower itself.

– Some even claimed to have seen the green-haired woman use Holy Power…

– And what on earth is that immortal pirate crew? Some say they’re elite guards assigned by the Queen of the Undead to her disciple?

Like rumors tend to do, some contained hyperbole and distortion, while others outright denied their validity, but there was no denying that even the cross-verified details showed deeds historic enough for the books.

“There are quite a few magicians who lost their familiar beasts in this civil war. Now that you’ve proven that magical automatons are so powerful, I expect a frenzy for them for a while.”

“I don’t think it’s quite right to categorize the Tin Knight and Sig as mere ‘ordinary magical automatons.’ But hey, it’s great to have competitors; we should collaborate.”

“Why is it good to have competitors?”

“Because it makes it easier to demonstrate just how exceptional Sig is, right?”

Gale’s response prompted Hermina to fall speechless.

They do say there are many eccentrics among geniuses. The girl in front of her certainly fit that description.

“Oh, by the way, could you advise people not to interact too much with Dorothea? She’s been stressing over her fame as a necromancer lately, and if someone steps on her toes, she might just snap.”

“…Why bring that up now?”

“Yeah, why now?”

After some casual banter, Hermina subtly shifted the conversation.

“So, is everything going well with what Dorothea is handling…?”

She tried to sound indifferent, yet one could feel a certain earnestness in her words.

Knowing this, Gale simply divulged the conclusion without beating around the bush.

***

When they first resolved to fight the North Witch.

Dorothea clearly declared to Gale and the Master of the Tower of Guardian.

“I’ll say this ahead of time: if what you want is to ‘rescue’ the North Witch Olin, then we can’t fit into that.”

Having grasped through sheer instinct (too reckless of an instinct, if you ask me) that the leadership between Olin and Mombi had shifted, the party realized the past landscape shown by Tuberosum’s Chalice might have been misleading, and confirmed their suspicions multiple times.

In that result, they understood how Rotbart had betrayed Olin and thought it over with a tongue-click.

Rotbart’s actions—betraying the master’s trust and affection in the most terrible way—were indeed grotesque, but in the end, it was undeniably Olin’s blunder for being taken by surprise and exploited.

Furthermore, the enemy was the wicked witch Mombi.

Her skill was outstanding, not to mention she did not hesitate to employ cowardly tactics, and showing even the slightest hesitation in harming her would land them squarely in her grasp.

Thus, Dorothea reached a clear conclusion.

“For now, I’ll kill her. Afterward, I’ll take care of Olin’s soul.”

The fate of a soul after a person’s death hinges on one’s mental state, the concentration of magic in the surroundings, and other factors.

Conversely, this implied that if the right environment could be provided, it could relatively keep the soul in this realm for a longer period.

With a force like that of the Tower of Guardian, they would have enough wealth and skill, so if she could just secure the soul first, they would handle creating a new body or setting up a dedicated magic circle afterward. That was her plan.

However, once the battle concluded and she laid claim to the soul, she found its condition was severely compromised.

Gazing at the damaged and shattered orb-like entity, the Tin Knight asked.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asked if the extraction failed!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ expressed understanding that anyone can make mistakes!]

“What failure are you talking about? It was originally like this!?”

Dorothea let out a screech.

Yet her strong reaction just proved that she held some guilt deep inside.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ pointed out that while the extraction itself may not have had issues, was it not something else that was problematic, resulting in such a grim expression?]

“Can you even read my face?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ honestly assessed that she was easier to read than Adelheid!]

“Even if it’s Sophia, who has to wear suspicion like a badge, she wouldn’t be worse than that mutt back there.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ corrected that lions are actually felines!]

The two were having a peculiar discussion that would have drawn strange looks from the others.

Dorothea sighed deeply.

“…When I cursed to prevent Mombi from escaping at the last minute, she burrowed into Olin’s soul to evade the attack. Since their souls were intertwined, it was possible. And Olin severed the connected part entirely and tossed it away, as if cutting off her arm after being bitten by a snake to prevent poison from spreading.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asked if it was like a lizard’s tail?]

“More like, with damage equivalent to a third of her upper body blown off. I suspect the soul wasn’t entirely intact to start with due to some aftereffects of the sealing. Add that on top, and it just ended up completely wrecked.”

Right now, she was using the power of the cage returned from Trot to forcibly shield Olin’s soul, but that was ultimately just a stopgap measure.

Without a clear solution, Olin’s soul would eventually dissipate.

Dorothea, who intended to at least let her have a last chat with her disciples before her complete resurrection, found herself in quite a bind.

“Well, it can’t be helped; letting go cleanly might also be an option. Hmm.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggested that if Dorothea is the master, she should be able to manage something!]

“Whether I can or can’t is one thing, but I don’t expect that master to want to help kindly.”

At that moment, someone rang the doorbell to the mansion where the two were located.

Dorothea thought if the intruder spouted nonsense about the power of the Tin Knight or the secrets of necromancy, she’d just have to beat them back and toss them out, but once she identified the visitor, her jaw dropped in utter astonishment.

“It’s been a while, Dorothea Aschengard. Could we have a little chat? About the North Witch and your future.”

Alingd Goodwitch.

The South Witch’s pupil had come to visit.