Chapter 3

# Chapter 3: The Witch and the Tin Knight

In the capital of the kingdom.

In a mansion that screamed nobility, a nobleman with an equally noble air was staying put.

The nobleman asked his subordinate, visibly anxious, “Any news yet?”

“Not yet. Don’t worry too much. We’ve sent thirty skilled individuals adept at handling rough matters. Dealing with a witch who’s just come of age should be a piece of cake.”

Attempting to reassure his master, the subordinate’s words earned a nod from the nobleman.

“Right, that should be the case. It better be. Tch, foolish girl. She should have just complied with our suggestions.”

This nobleman was a member of the kingdom’s aristocracy. His father, grandfather, and ancestors were all nobles of this very kingdom.

To him, the kingdom was home, wealth, and life itself.

He had never known, nor considered, a life outside of being a noble.

Thus, when the king issued a certain decree one day, the nobleman was genuinely taken aback.

“I shall retrieve all eight treasures lost by the royal family and lead the kingdom back to glory.”

Indeed, such treasures existed in the kingdom.

And it was true that a kingdom bearing those treasures prospered greatly.

But that was a matter of long ago.

The kingdom had long since declined from its golden age, and the treasures it once possessed had scattered across the world, finding new owners long ago.

Even if they attempted to reclaim them now, there was no way the treasure’s owners would easily hand them back.

However, the king was stubborn.

Regardless of how much the nobles and ministers protested or pressured him, he never wavered from his intention to reclaim the treasures.

The only thing ministers could do was to prevent the king’s reckless plan to mobilize the army for treasure retrieval.

“Well, how about this? If directly deploying soldiers from our kingdom poses any diplomatic issues, we could always enlist the help of outsiders. If we commission the renowned ‘Witch of the East’ to retrieve the treasures, there should be no problem at all.”

It wasn’t without issue. The nobleman firmly believed there would be problems galore. Other ministers appeared to share similar thoughts.

Yet, the king insisted on proceeding, and a messenger was dispatched to the infamous, or rather, notorious Witch of the East.

Fortunately for the nobleman, it was not the witch herself who answered the call, but her apprentice.

The witch’s apprentice was young. No, she was practically a child.

The ministers thought that dealing with an inexperienced girl was hardly a problem.

Under the pretext of escorting the apprentice, the nobleman continuously whispered to her.

There was no need to engage in a serious search. They could travel leisurely until the king’s enthusiasm wore off. The nobles would bear all expenses, and there would be rewards once everything was over.

It was a remarkable deal.

Other colleagues gasped at how excessive it was to treat a mere common girl so lavishly.

Some even insisted that a few coins or a bit of intimidation would suffice.

While the nobleman did feel it was a waste of resources, he decided to treat it as necessary expenses.

The tales about the ‘Witch of the East’ were likely exaggerated, but if even a fraction of them were true, she was a force capable of obliterating whole territories.

Considering the potential wrath of such a being if she felt her apprentice was mishandled, it was a manageable expense.

The problem lay with the witch’s apprentice not understanding his words.

No matter how much the nobleman coaxed, tempted, or intimidated her, the apprentice remained resolute, insisting, “I’m merely completing the king’s order.”

This was incomprehensible behavior to the nobleman.

While it was natural for ignorant commoners to hold blind loyalty and reverence for the nobility, there was something extraordinarily frustrating and infuriating about their obliviousness in this case.

Finally, as the nobleman prepared to resort to extreme measures against the pressure from his colleagues, the witch’s apprentice disappeared without a trace.

In her mind, she believed that staying with the nobles would mean failing her master’s test, but to the nobleman, it appeared as though she had sensed their scheme and ran away.

The nobleman felt a wave of concern.

Should the witch’s apprentice inform her master of what transpired, it wouldn’t be the foolish king bearing the brunt of the witch’s fury, but rather them—those noblemen who acted with the kingdom’s interests at heart.

The witch’s apprentice needed to vanish, quietly, and without any connection to them.

The nobleman made his judgment.

The nobleman made his choice.

The nobleman issued his command.

What remained for the nobleman, who had completed his tasks, was to anxiously await the results.

“Damn it, is it still not done? How long does it take to capture a single witch—”

The nobleman’s words were cut short.

A commotion outside the mansion distracted him.

“What’s going on? Is the task done?”

His expression was anything but bright.

In fact, it was closer to fury.

He had clearly instructed to finish the job “quietly.”

If the ruckus was caused by his subordinates, it meant his orders had been disregarded, and if it was due to something else, it meant an uninvited guest had arrived at his mansion.

Neither scenario was pleasant.

“I’ll check it out.”

Noting the unease, his right-hand man chose to head outside himself instead of sending subordinates.

Within the room remained the angry nobleman and a few guards.

They waited, about five minutes went by.

His right-hand man still hadn’t returned, and the commotion had only grown louder.

Just as the nobleman was losing patience and preparing to step outside himself—

BANG!

A heavy sound reverberated, shaking the air around them.

The nobleman wore a look of bewilderment.

That vibration didn’t come from outside.

It came from beneath his feet.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Something unknown was charging from the first floor to the second floor, where the nobleman resided.

– Stop them!

– AAHH!

– S-Save me!

Screams and shouts filled the air.

“Milord! Step away from the door!”

The guards drew their swords, positioning themselves between the nobleman and the door.

Although they braced for whatever might come crashing through the door, the attacker proved to be more ferocious than they’d anticipated.

WHAM!

The door flew away as if it were made of paper.

One of the guards caught in its trajectory was sent flying alongside it.

Another guard struck at the intruder with his sword, but the attacker casually blocked it and trampled right over the guard’s foot.

CRUNCH.

The terrible pain of a crushed foot made the guard instinctively hunch over.

With a blow to the guard’s earlobe using the hilt of the sword, the intruder followed up with a kick to the guard’s chest.

Spitting out blood and vomit, the guard collapsed.

The other guard, who tried to rise after being flung with the door, was just crushed under it as the intruder pressed down viciously.

Paralyzed with fear, the nobleman could only stare at the intruder in silence.

A heavy, metallic figure that evoked the weight of ages.

In its left hand, it held a shield, and in its right, a blunt sword.

Through the completely covered visage of the helmet, not a single breath was heard; where eyes should be, flickering, ghostly lights gently glowed.

A monster.

That one word flashed through the nobleman’s mind.

It was a cliché, but it felt like no other phrase would fit the armored figure in front of him.

“…”

The knight said nothing.

He simply gazed at the nobleman without threats, warnings, or mockery.

Faced with that silence, the nobleman felt himself shrink even further.

Then, from behind the knight, the girl he remembered from his past appeared, allowing the nobleman to finally take a deep, shaky breath.

With a trembling voice, he asked, “W-What are you doing?”

The girl silently lifted her left hand.

In it was a cage. But inside the cage was not a parrot or anything, but a human skull.

That which should not move rattled, making noise.

“It’s him! He ordered me to have the witch killed! The noble of the kingdom, Marquis William Heming, is the culprit! I’ve spoken the truth! Please, Witch! Show mercy to me! I revealed the truth! Please, Witch! Show mercy! Mercy!”

Mercy.

Mercy.

Mercy!

The skull repeated those words, rattling as it cried out for mercy from the black-haired girl.

Seeing this, the nobleman vaguely realized.

This was not the witch’s apprentice.

The girl before him was already a witch in her own right.

As she swung the cage in a counterclockwise circle twice, the skull crumbled into dust, and the cage transformed into a tiny ring that slipped onto the witch’s finger.

With a stern expression, the witch turned her gaze to the nobleman and stated, “Do I need to explain further?”

The nobleman had attempted to take her life first, so she was merely retaliating.

It was a straightforward and easily understandable answer.

But it was far too unreasonable for the nobleman to accept.

Because he was a noble.

And she was a commoner.

A noble could stab a commoner, but the opposite should never occur.

That was the law of the world as understood by the noble.

Yet the law had crumbled, and reprimanding the rude witch felt impossible with the knight standing beside her.

It was unsettling to see a witch wielding the dead as she pleased.

Thus, instead of exerting his authority over the girl, the nobleman swallowed his humiliation and tried to reason with her.

“Alright, I sincerely apologize for the attempts on your life. But think it over. The king isn’t all there. He’s so caught up in the glories of a past age that he fails to see the realities!”

The nobleman was a local of the kingdom.

Thus, he was well aware of the kingdom’s limitations.

A small country, situated in the Eastern continent.

It had a long history but was devoid of anything special.

While it had just enough strength to protect itself, it was woefully lacking compared to true monsters.

“You’ve received a magical device that indicates the location of the eight treasures from the king. That was not created in our kingdom. It came from the Holy Kingdom that gazes upon the heavens. The foolish king, elated that the Holy Kingdom would return the treasures to their true owners, is sorely mistaken. They’ve surely provided similar devices to other nations. Countries across the land will dance in their palm. This is a massive conspiracy. We must not get involved!”

The nobleman was frantic.

He was pleading desperately.

The witch before him maintained an unimpressed expression, only furthering his anxiety.

“Do you still not understand!? Should we get caught up in that conspiracy, our kingdom will be in danger, but the first to be at risk is you, who is collecting the treasures! So—”

“When you were trying to kill me, you were so bold, but now you feign concern. Do you think saying sorry will erase your crime?”

“Ugh.”

The nobleman was at a loss for words.

As he looked down at the nobleman, the witch unilaterally laid down the terms.

“One. Do not attempt to harm me or interfere with my journey in the future.

Two. If you notice any signs of the king or other nobles trying to strike at me from behind, inform me at once.

Three. I don’t need your escorts or whatever; I’ll retrieve the treasures myself, so please make sure you explain this to everyone around.

Should you breach these terms, you will turn into a frog while still alive. Confirm your agreement.”

“What? There’s no way I would agree to that!”

“Then just die. I couldn’t care less. Since you’re not the one directly aiming for my life, I’ve only subdued others. But do not think you deserve any mercy being the root of it all.”

As the knight beside her quietly brandished his sword, the nobleman was terrified and shouted.

“I agree! I agree! Ugh!”

Feeling a prickling sensation at his fingertips, the nobleman let out a yelp.

The blood seeping from his fingers formed letters in the air before it turned to light and seeped back into the nobleman’s body.

After the witch and knight departed, the nobleman sat there blankly on the floor for quite some time.

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