Chapter 26

#Episode 26: The Tin Knight and the Witch’s Greeting (1)

After shutting herself in her lodging, Dorothea fell deep in thought.

If you think about it rationally, even if there is indeed a treasure in this city as the Tin Knight said, Dorothea wouldn’t lose anything.

I mean, it’s much easier to find items smack dab in the middle of a busy street than to dig up some weird, hidden ruins in a remote valley.

Still, the reason Dorothea was sulking was simple.

‘…I feel like I’m getting more and more swayed by that guy each day.’

The Tin Knight.

The familiar contracted spirit of Dorothea, acting as her escort.

A talented warrior who could effortlessly slice through dozens of armed troops while being annoyingly frivolous and impulsive, hardly fitting his skills.

“He expresses way too many emotions for a magical automaton, that guy.”

Typically, a regular magical automaton is pretty dumb, unable to perform complex thought or reasoning.

“Come here, bring that, wait, fight.”

If the orders aren’t simple and clear-cut, it hardly registers, and their decision-making ability is woefully lacking.

But the Tin Knight?

When push comes to shove, he doesn’t falter in judgment; he manages to get into all sorts of trouble even without being told.

Like when he went off saving Roni and other slaves on his own, or when he kept nudging Dorothea to accept Adel as a companion afterward.

Of course, it didn’t exactly harm Dorothea or interfere with her goals.

Sure, she had to use magic allocated for Adel, but since she got plenty of catalysts in return, it was a net gain.

Objectively speaking, there were no losses. None at all.

「Oh dear, foolish one. The problem starts when your familiar acts on its own without being told. How can you not control a single spirit, and still call yourself my apprentice?」

I could almost see the illusion of her master clicking their tongue disapprovingly before me. The clarity of my reflection in the gleaming mirror was just as sharp.

Trying to ignore it, Dorothea leaned back in her chair.

She pushed back with a grunt, rocking forward and backward.

The chair, meant to stand on four legs, precariously balanced on just two.

If she wasn’t careful, she could easily topple over, but her expression remained completely indifferent.

Staring blankly at the wooden stains etched on the ceiling, Dorothea continued her thoughts.

There were solutions, after all.

She could just add another contract with the Tin Knight.

“Don’t do unnecessary things, follow my orders, prioritize Dorothea’s safety,” stuff like that.

Dorothea had the power to make such a contract.

None other than her magical energy.

Perhaps it was due to being old-fashioned or some other reason, but the amount of magical power the Tin Knight required was notably higher compared to ordinary magical automatons.

Forget about warriors who focus on enhancing the ‘quality’ of their magic; even mages who work on increasing the ‘quantity’ found it taxing.

Not only was she dishing it out like handing over a cup of water from a dispenser, but Dorothea also got to use her own magic meanwhile—a feat that could only be achieved by “the witch from the east,” who “overflows with magical power.”

In other words, if Dorothea cut off the supply of magic, the Tin Knight, lacking a proper substitute, would have no way to resist.

If she played that card right, it wouldn’t be difficult to establish a lopsided contract favoring her.

“Tsk.”

Dorothea clicked her tongue softly.

Though the answer was plainly laid out before her, for some reason, she didn’t want to use that method.

And she didn’t even know why she didn’t want to.

It was just something she couldn’t express other than “not liking it.”

“…Hah, whatever. I’ll deal with it later if I need to.”

With a thud, the front legs of the chair that had been hovering in the air crash-landed on the floor.

She still had enough catalysts, so she thought she might as well buy a book to read as she had some time to spare.

Since it was a relatively large city, there should be one or two bookstores around.

Dorothea opened the door and stepped out of the room.

On one side of the second-floor hallway, there were guest rooms alongside the wall, while the other side had a railing that came up to her waist.

Looking down from the railing, she could see the scene of the restaurant on the first floor, but there were hardly any customers, probably due to the awkward timing.

As she was planning to pop by the bookstore and come back in time for a meal—

Right next to the door.

Dorothea spotted something strange at her feet.

A pitch-black snake, looking like a shadow that had taken on a 3D form.

Dorothea recognized what it was.

It was something she had seen so much of not long ago that she was sick of it.

A shadow snake.

One of the eight creatures that guide to the locations of the kingdom’s treasures.

Among those, this one was the holder of “the key to Opium,” which Dorothea possessed.

Dorothea instinctively checked the animal compass in her possession.

Out of the eight markings, the only one faded was the purple mole, due to its cooldown not being reset.

The marking for the shadow snake was shining clearly, ready to be called forth at any moment.

In other words, the shadow snake before her wasn’t one that sprang from her compass.

「You received a magical device from the king that reveals the locations of the eight treasures. That’s not something produced in our kingdom. It was handed over by the Holy Kingdom above the skies. The foolish king rejoiced, thinking that the Holy Kingdom wished to return the treasures to their true owner, but that’s simply not the case. They surely handed out such devices to other countries as well. The various nations on the ground will dance in their palms. This is a grand conspiracy! We must not get entangled in it!」

The face of the noble from Dorothea’s kingdom who had tried to deter her travels sprang to mind.

Dorothea made a quick decision.

Crunch!

First, she crushed a miniature skull to alert the Tin Knight, who had the matching skull.

Boom!

The defensive magic engraved on her staff activated at maximum strength.

Dorothea’s quick judgment paid off.

In the form of saving her own life.

Boom!

Right after a loud noise rang in her ears, “something” burst in through the window, crashing down on Dorothea.

Feeling the impact skimming her nape, she didn’t resist and flipped over the railing.

Crash!

“Whoa, what the heck!?”

As a person fell onto the restaurant table, the innkeeper, who had been casually yawning, squeaked in surprise.

Dorothea rolled off the table.

Her protective magic seemed to have worked, as she was not majorly injured, but her neck from the mysterious attack and her back from crashing into the table were throbbing painfully.

Dorothea looked up above the railing.

“Something” that had ambushed her was perched on the railing, peering down at her.

-Uki?

At first glance, it looked like a monkey.

But it was definitely more than just a simple monkey.

It had a pair of wings reminiscent of a bird on its back, and its hands had long arms and nails sharp like hooks.

Dorothea realized that those sharp claws had just grazed her neck. Had she not used her defensive magic in time, her carotid artery would have been sliced right open.

The fur coating the monkey’s body was golden, having a texture more akin to tough metal than animal fur.

“A monster? Why is it here in the middle of the city!”

The innkeeper screamed.

As if reacting to that shout, the golden monkey turned to look at the innkeeper.

-Shaaarrr!

Upon seeing the golden monkey raise its fur and threaten, the innkeeper, shrieking briefly, fled out of the building.

The golden monkey laughed heartily at the fleeing figure but kept its attention solely focused on Dorothea’s every move.

That wasn’t typical behavior for an ordinary wild animal.

The golden monkey clearly exuded a mix of mischief and malice.

Dorothea’s blue eyes narrowed.

The innkeeper had called the golden monkey a monster.

That wasn’t wrong.

The term “monster” itself is notoriously vague; regular folks tend to label any life form they don’t understand or find a little dangerous as a monster.

But even if it was understandable for a layman to use inaccurate terminology, experts shouldn’t do the same.

Dorothea knew a more precise term to describe the monkey in front of her.

A creature forged from mixing and distorting various beings, enhanced and created through heretical means.

Knowledgeable individuals referred to it with disdain as a chimera.

Conversely, they argued it was a creation birthed from their own hands, effectively akin to a child, hence calling it a homunculus.

Like a necromancer, the alchemist was a branch of magic that handled their own unique familiars, clearly harboring deadly intent as it fixed its gaze on Dorothea.

-Ukiik!

With the flapping of its wings, the golden monkey darted forward like an arrow.

Dorothea ducked under the table to evade.

Screech!

The sharp clawing instantly sliced through the wooden table.

Seeing the faint magical energy shimmering at the ends of those claws, Dorothea reassessed the opponent’s attack power.

If she had taken that hit without her defensive magic, it wouldn’t just be her carotid artery in trouble, her whole body might’ve been shredded.

Black orbs scattered from Dorothea’s hands.

Though they took the form of black bullets, they were actually cursed masses filled with the resentment of the deceased.

While they could deliver a blow like a hammer, their true value lay in their ability to inflict debuffs like nausea and chills on living beings.

-Uki!

In a mocking manner, the golden monkey barreled straight through the black orbs, nullifying them.

Shreak!

Another claw hit Dorothea.

She swung her staff to strike the golden monkey, but it dodged with impressive speed.

Dorothea ripped a leather pouch from her waist and scattered its contents into the air.

Colorful hairs received magical energy and transformed into ash instantaneously, only for the ash to again morph into wailing shadows, inundating the area with curses.

《Die, die, die, die, die!》

《It hurts, it’s painful, I can’t breathe!》

《You too, just like us…!》

-Kishaaaah!

The golden monkey roared in irritation at the mass of spirits clinging to it.

As the shining golden fur intensified, the spirits that touched it quickly melted away.

Dorothea swiftly tried to cast her next spell, but the golden monkey was faster, swinging its long arms to smack Dorothea.

Splat!

Dorothea’s wooden staff cracked with a loud noise.

With her staff, which had been serving as the catalyst for her protective magic, finally shattering, part of the remaining impact translated directly to Dorothea.

“Ugh, no way!”

Kicking up a cloud of dust, Dorothea rolled across the floor.

Her cloak slipped from its place, and her skin scraped against the ground, sending sharp pain coursing through her.

Ignoring the pain, she forced herself up, gritting her teeth.

“I struggled so much just to make this staff…!”

-Ukiiki!

Delighted by the sight of Dorothea falling apart, the golden monkey burst into laughter.

The status match-up was the worst.

Its physical capabilities were unrivaled, and the golden fur seemed to resist all forms of magical energy.

If magical attacks wouldn’t work, she’d need to counter with physical strikes, but necromancers weren’t exactly known for their physical prowess.

To put it accurately, while there were magic types representing that school, none of them fit Dorothea’s taste nor were usable in the current situation.

Finding a corpse to self-destruct in the middle of the city wasn’t exactly practical.

The golden monkey lowered its body.

It looked like it was about to leap at any moment.

Dorothea, who had her face all stiffened, momentarily loosened her expression.

The golden monkey misinterpreted it as resignation.

A golden flash streaked through the air.

The sharp claws aimed for Dorothea’s chest, targeting the heart within.

Clang!

A high-pitched metallic sound resonated.

Before the golden monkey could react, a newcomer swung a shield, slamming it into the monkey.

[‘Tin Knight’ delivers a furious blow!!]

Boom!

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