Chapter 28

You
You didn’t really feel tired or achy, but it was just a habitual move.

You faced straight ahead.

In the corner of the pitch-black monitor screen, the word "Waiting" was written in white.

That strange sense of coexisting with 'the Tin Knight' outside the screen had faded away.

For some reason, this made you feel a pang of loss.

It felt as if you were wide awake, yet suddenly turned into a one-eyed monster.

It wasn’t hard to guess the meaning of the "Waiting" on the screen.

It probably meant the magical power remaining in the Tin Knight had been completely drained and needed a recharge.

It shouldn’t take too long, though.

Right before you were about to close your eyes, Dorothea was right there next to you.

For that witch girl overflowing with magical power, supplying the Tin Knight with the necessary magic wasn’t a difficult task at all.

Though, Dorothea herself seemed to find it annoying having to make physical contact each time to transfer her magic.

You’d heard her grumble many times about the lack of remote charging and how the container was too small when trying to pour a large amount.

It wasn’t like others’ smartphones had remote charging and yours didn’t; it felt totally unfair, so you understood her complaints.

But it really wasn’t your fault that the Tin Knight’s performance was outdated.

Shouldn't you be praising that ancient relic, which hadn’t moved in hundreds of years, for being able to move at all?

You gazed at the monitor.

The screen was still black.

…The waiting time was longer than expected.

Was the charging taking longer because part of your body had broken just before collapsing?

You had believed the wounds were ones that could be sufficiently healed by trusting the Tin Knight's instincts, but what if that wasn’t the case?

What if some incident had occurred, leaving you unable to wake up? What if Dorothea had died while you were stuck?

You looked around.

A cramped room with no exits reflected in your view.

You didn't need sleep since you weren't feeling tired.

You didn't need food since you weren't hungry.

But you had no way to alleviate the boredom and loneliness.

If no one came to wake the Tin Knight… you might be left here all alone.

Just as you were seriously contemplating that fact, light returned to the screen.

Your senses strangely expanded, and the world that the Tin Knight saw and felt came to you.

You were 'you,' but at the same time, you were the 'Tin Knight.'

Your story was there.

The darkness that had been swelling in your chest vanished without a trace, replaced by joy and a sense of adventure.

With a smile on your face, you resumed your adventure.

***

“Alright, let's begin.”

“Sure.”

After confirming Dorothea’s indifferent response, Adelheid cautiously began to move her hands.

First, she washed the sand stuck in the wound with clean water and applied ointment.

As the translucent, sticky liquid touched the wound, Dorothea’s back flinched and trembled violently.

Adel understood that feeling.

It was the same ointment Dorothea had applied whenever Adel was injured during training with the Tin Knight.

This ointment, reportedly concocted by Dorothea herself, was remarkably effective.

It healed startlingly fast compared to regular store-bought medicine, left no scars, and absorbed quickly, making it convenient to use.

However, the side effects were also clear.

In short, it hurt like hell.

When Adel first used it, it was so painful that she cried.

But she couldn’t not use it, as the training with the Tin Knight was notoriously merciless.

Regardless of whether the opponent was female or not, the attacks were relentless, leaving her with no unblemished spot on her body. The ointment was essential to erase the scars formed in that process.

When asked if she would endure painful screams to get rid of scars or use a less painful ointment while leaving behind scars, she would unhesitatingly choose the former—that’s how a girl’s heart worked.

“Is the knight going to be okay? That wound looks serious.”

One trick to endure pain is to focus on something else.

To ease Dorothea's pain, Adel started chatting.

“He'll be fine. That guy has an automatic self-repair function. As I’ve loaded him with magic, he should get up soon…”

The last part sounded almost like a strained wheeze.

Adel paused momentarily, but resumed her work upon seeing Dorothea gesture for her to continue.

“Even with his left arm completely chopped off, he can still recover. The magical automatons are amazing, I just never knew since the Friedel Territory's wizards don’t use them.”

“Normally, that's… no. The magical power consumed for regeneration isn’t negligible, either. Nowadays, magical automatons don’t usually have such functions.”

“Speaking of which, you mentioned the knight was resting in some ruins in the kingdom, right? Was he an active part of an old kingdom?”

“Well, who knows.”

“Doesn’t the witch want to know the knight's identity?”

After applying all the ointment, the wound that was overflowing with blood began to heal rapidly. It was impressive as always.

Holding back the waves of pain, Dorothea took a breath and returned to her usual flat tone.

“Not really. No matter who he is, as long as he fulfills his role like this time, it’s enough.”

Adel pondered.

Was this a merciless indifference or a show of trust?

“Anyway, that guy should be waking up soon, so let’s prepare for a counterattack—”

Dorothea's words were abruptly cut off.

Suddenly, the door where the two were was thrown open.

The unexpected intruder confirmed the sight of Dorothea and Adel and tightly clenched their fist, which only had one left.

['The Tin Knight is relieved you both are safe!']

['The Tin Knight silently cheers!']

Just to remind, the two were in the middle of treating wounds.

And Dorothea had taken off her clothes, exposing her upper body. It was easier that way during treatment.

Adelheid froze.

Dorothea trembled.

It wasn’t the trembling of enduring pain, but one filled with rage.

Clutching a splintered staff that had been reduced to the size of a small club during the battle with the Golden Monkey, Dorothea rose.

And then, she started beating up the Tin Knight.

“What do you mean 'cheering'!? You don’t even know the basic concept of knocking!?”

Clang! Clang!

The sound that echoed as wood collided with metal was as if metal were crashing together, resonating with how much magic she had injected into the staff.

['The Tin Knight argues he just opened his eyes and found no one around, panicking to join you!']

['The Tin Knight points out the door being unlocked was the problem!']

“I locked it! You brutishly broke it down!”

The Tin Knight glanced behind to check the half-destroyed doorknob.

Then he nodded up and down before giving a thumbs-up.

['The Tin Knight humbly admits his fault then!']

“Then get out right now!!”

Clang!

The staff Dorothea threw spectacularly hit the Tin Knight’s face.

As he clutched his dented helmet, the Tin Knight hurriedly fled outside.

Dorothea slammed the door shut with a furious motion.

Watching her grumble while getting dressed, Adel thought.

‘Hmm, this is kind of like something I’ve seen in a romance novel, but it feels different…?’

Shouldn’t there be more of those squeaky screams or bashful reactions?

Is it truly correct to have the female protagonist physically beat the male protagonist and chase him away?

“Phew, Adel. Can you pass me that belt?”

“Ah, yes!”

Adel decided to keep quiet.

Now that she thought about it, these two were originally strange people.

***

There was no follow-up report against the Tin Knight for property damage.

The place the three were staying was an empty house left unattended by its owner.

It was certainly a case of illegal trespassing, but among the three, only Adel cared about such trivial matters.

As she resolved to leave a bit of money for the broken door and the brief use of the place, Dorothea spoke up.

“We can't go back to the tavern. They've already tracked our location, and going back there now would waste time with investigations.”

A battle had occurred in the heart of the city.

Not just a simple sword fight, but a chaotic brawl that wrecked everything.

To be precise, Dorothea and the Tin Knight had merely countered an attack, yet from the guards’ perspective, both sides were simply targets.

The guards of this city appeared to be relatively ‘decent,’ so explaining the situation calmly might clear up any misunderstandings, but Dorothea had no intention of doing so.

“If we take our time with investigations, we’ll miss our chance to counterattack. If I really have to explain, I can knock out whoever attacked me first.”

['The Tin Knight asks if you know the identity of the enemy!']

“A wizard with a compass, like me. They probably attacked while targeting the key to the opium I have. From how they were handling the homunculus, the faction seems to be Alchemist. I don't know their entire strength, but since this guy eliminated one of the monkeys, there should be one left. Even if they left a couple for escort duty, it can’t be more than two. If they could command more, there’s no way they would have sent just one in the first place.”

Dorothea’s gaze turned towards the Tin Knight.

Thanks to constantly pouring magic into the Tin Knight's magic tank every time it ran low, the wound that had been chopped up to just below his shoulder was now healing, showing the elbow.

At this rate, it looked like it would be fully healed during their movement.

“But… even if we want to attempt a counterattack, we need to know the enemy’s location, right? Oh, maybe you could use that mouse you often use, witch?”

At Adel’s question, Dorothea shook her head.

“I’ve already tried that, but it failed. Any magician worth their salt will know to prepare for detection spells.”

However, Dorothea added,

“It's the same for me. I used magic to suppress my magical traces and cast spells to diminish my presence.”

At Dorothea’s words, Adel recalled when she was left alone at the auction house.

It seemed they had used a similar method back then too.

['The Tin Knight questions how you were attacked despite using that!']

“That’s the key point. It’s possible that the enemy’s detection skills surpassed my concealment, but the one who found me was a shadow snake. In other words, the compass’s detection ability chews through any ordinary concealment magic.”

Dorothea’s lips curled up.

“Then the opposite is probably also true, right?”

“But for that, the opponent needs to possess one of the treasures…”

As Adel tilted her head, she seemed to come to a realization.

The enemy was a rival who also possessed a compass.

Just as Dorothea had secured one of the eight treasures, the opponent also might have done the same.

“Fortunately, there’s a sigil nearby that led us here. Until now, we’ve been racing north, but what if we go that way this time?”

When Dorothea channeled magic into the sigil, it glimmered, and a purple mole popped out.

The three’s gazes were fixed on the mole.

If there were no significant changes in its movement, they’d need a new plan.

Scanning its surroundings, the mole gradually started moving forward.

Not to the north, but to the west.

Dorothea opened her mouth.

“Let’s pay them back for what they did.”