Chapter 52

#52 Episode: Tin Knight and the City of Clockwork Act 2 (1)

In front of the monitor, You fell into a quiet reverie.

Clockwork City TikTok.

It was about all the things you had accomplished there.

You managed to partially restore the power of the ‘Tin Knight’ at the Magical Automaton Workshop with Dorothea.

You succeeded in getting a qualification badge at the Lenart Dojo together with Adelheid.

Alongside Sophia, you gained knowledge at the bookstore and learned a bit about the past of the ‘Tin Knight.’

You felt like you had been quite busy since arriving in TikTok just a day ago.

But at the same time, you realized that this wasn’t everything.

At the doll workshop you went to with Dorothea, the tavern owner siblings, Smith and Sink, seemed to have some unspoken issues.

And you were convinced that resolving those issues would lead to additional enhancements for the ‘Tin Knight.’ That was the general vibe you were getting.

Another witch you encountered in front of the shop, Gale Elilraz, also caught your attention.

The tavern owner had a 2P color scheme, and she brought along a Magical Automaton. It was clearly a deliberate setup.

From a very meta perspective, you expected your opponent to be very powerful and capable, possibly stronger than the ‘Tin Knight’ and Dorothea on paper. That’s just how rivals were.

It could only be a delightful thing.

How could you resist a type change mirror match?

Adelheid’s story was also intriguing.

Rene von Lenart actively utilized the home advantage of Clockwork City to create a new training system at the dojo using Magical Automatons.

Having been expelled by Rene and his crew once, an old man and his followers had come back sharpening their blades for revenge.

It was a conflict between the new generation and the traditionalists, and it was a contest over which side would lead the dojo in TikTok.

Depending on who won, it would determine whether or not the badge Adelheid obtained would be recognized, so there was no option to just stay out of it.

Additionally, although it couldn’t be deemed a main objective, the unresolved 6th and 7th-level trials were also on your mind.

They definitely screamed “challenge.”

What about Sophia?

The stories told by the adventurers rescued alongside Sophia piqued your interest enough.

Schemes devised by the Adventurer’s Guild. Unreasonable and coercive oppression. You and your party were marked as victims.

Instead of talking, they had drawn their swords, and once attacked, you had no choice but to retaliate.

What you suspected most was that those behind the scenes of this incident likely weren’t simply after gold.

The guild was distributing fake interpretations to stop the opening of the labyrinth’s ‘Final Room,’ where Sophia was sealed.

This incident was carried out to recover ‘treasures found in the labyrinth’ from that guild, and it felt odd if Sophia had no connection to it.

Your eyes sparkled.

It seemed there were still many things to be done in Clockwork City.

***

Throughout breakfast, Dorothea wore a grim expression.

It wasn’t that the food served at the tavern was terrible.

To begin with, Dorothea wasn’t picky about the taste of food (with a few exceptions, like the ‘Tin Knight’s’ home-cooked meals), and the onion soup offered by the tavern was of quite high quality.

But no matter how good the food tasted, if the eater’s heart was troubled, it was meaningless.

‘What a headache.’

Dorothea recalled what had happened yesterday, or rather early this morning.

A suspicious vampire and a deranged doll.

These two were an extraordinary combo, having brought along three adventurers and one prisoner, and their ramblings were quite a sight to behold.

What? Murdering adventurers? Ambush? Robbery?

Dorothea found it preposterous.

If Dorothea were really set on doing something wicked, there was no need for such bothersome and inefficient work.

First, she’d raise a horde of corpses from a nearby grave, then slaughter all the rude guild employees, block the entrance to the labyrinth, and then unleash a mix of poison and curses to wipe out every human and monster inside indiscriminately. Finally, she could just stroll in and take all the treasures for herself.

The only reason she didn’t do it was that handling the aftermath would be troublesome; it wasn’t due to lacking the ability to carry it out.

It had been awkward to clash with the massive organization known as the guild, so she opted for a calm, legal, and reasonable method to achieve her goals and slip away. Yet suddenly being accused with, “You killed them! You wicked witch!” was infuriating.

She couldn’t help but feel outraged.

Had Sophia not suggested a new approach last night, she might have seriously prepared for a large-scale battle, even at the cost of her social reputation.

Dorothea preferred to avoid fights that could be avoided, but if an opponent pointed a sword at her, she would definitely retaliate. That was her principle.

‘The trackers are all from the Schwarz Branch. The likelihood is high that the branch chief is behind this. But I have no material evidence. Sophia said she would come up with an extra plan.’

Recalling the information a terrified tracker had babbled about, Dorothea almost mindlessly moved her spoon to her mouth.

At that moment, she felt a gaze piercing through her from a corner of her vision.

“What’s up? Do you have something to say?”

[‘Tin Knight’ points out that you’re eating very unappetizingly!]

“It’s none of your business how I eat.”

[‘Tin Knight’ claims that if you want, he can teach you the secret to eating deliciously!]

“With what mouth are you saying that when you can’t even eat—”

Dorothea cut off her sentence abruptly.

She suddenly remembered that the Tin Knight had once been human.

Not knowing something is easy.

But knowing something and holding back is incredibly tough.

Especially if it’s something you can never have again.

The Tin Knight, too, must have once enjoyed eating and drinking normally while savoring their flavors and fullness.

What kind of feeling must it be for someone who used to be human to become unable to eat anything, watching others eat?

“If you’re that bothered by how I eat, then go to Adel. You’ll find her more entertaining.”

But Dorothea wasn’t the kind of straightforward and obedient person who would simply follow the Tin Knight’s suggestion.

With a blunt voice, she waved her hand dismissively, and the Tin Knight said:

[‘Tin Knight’ states that you should not look back once you’ve decided to move forward!]

“Hah.”

Balancing swinging her staff against complying with the whining of this annoying audience.

As she contemplated which path to take, Dorothea ultimately opted for the latter.

She didn’t want to exert herself too much at the dining table.

It had nothing to do with getting to know the Tin Knight’s past. Probably.

Dipping the dark bread into the soup and taking a bite, that initially hard bread became noticeably softer.

As she chewed, with each motion of her teeth, the soup soaked into the bread spread across her mouth.

It wasn’t bad at all.

‘But it’s not that big of a deal to have a “secret” or anything.’

Dorothea had been about to grumble about how overly dramatic it all was but chose to keep her mouth shut at the sight of the Tin Knight nodding approvingly as if satisfied.

‘…Well, I guess that’s fine. The more enthusiastic he gets, the safer I’ll be.’

After rationalizing her behavior, Dorothea finished her meal and got up.

[‘Tin Knight’ asks about the next schedule!]

“Why’s that?”

[‘Tin Knight’ expresses a desire to perform additional enhancements at the doll workshop!]

“Huh. Sure, why not.”

Dorothea nodded easily.

‘…I can just leave the guild business to Sophia for now.’

It wasn’t that she trusted Sophia completely.

In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Even so, to be ready for a frontal assault if things got tangled up, she needed to bolster the Tin Knight’s power, even just a little.

“What I need is a massive jewel that can serve as a magical tank. Shall we go for it?”

[‘Tin Knight’ is thrilled about spending some money!]

***

“Welcome! What kind of accessory are you looking for? Jewels? Of course! Uh, you want something bigger than this? I’m sorry, but that’s the biggest one I’ve got…”

“Welcome to our general store. What are you looking for? A big jewel? Missy, are you mistaking this place for something else?”

“Welcome to Sanson’s Doll Workshop! Looking for a magical tank? This way please. Hmm, this is the finest among the goods handled in this city; doesn’t it meet your expectations?”

“Oh ho ho, you came all the way to this backwater. Young lady, you’ve got some guts. We don’t have jewels, but there’s something equally good. If you just take a taste of this medicine, you’ll reach paradise—cough! I mean, I made a mistake, help! Cough!”

About three hours after departing from the tavern.

Dorothea scratched her head in annoyance.

“There’s nothing usable, seriously.”

She had rummaged through parts of TikTok all morning, but she hadn’t spotted a jewel suitable to become the Tin Knight’s new magical tank.

While there were a couple of jewels that looked to have decent capacity, even those paled in comparison to the Tin Knight’s original store.

‘…It doesn’t seem like increasing magical capacity is going to be easy. The remaining option is to enhance efficiency further.’

“Hey, if I can’t do it, I can’t do it, but ‘right now’? What’s up with that? How tacky.”

“Instead of this shabby place, the workshop originally used by Grandpa would do just fine!”

Dorothea recalled a pair of siblings she had seen in the back alleys of TikTok.

If there was anywhere left in this city to further reinforce the Tin Knight, it seemed that would be the place.

As Dorothea was about to change direction, a strangely familiar voice reached her ears.

“So I’m saying, I have nothing to do with this!”

“Last night, a large-scale murder occurred in the back alley. According to witnesses, the culprit was someone in suspicious armor along with a pair of young women. There’s also the testimony of the tavern owner, which indicates that you were absent during the estimated time of the crime. Are you still going to deny it?”

“I’m just saying that was a walk! And what’s suspicious about our Sig’s armor? It’s just so cool!”

“No, what I’m saying—”

A girl in a white dress with blonde hair and blue eyes. And a white knight keeping watch beside her.

A familiar duo from somewhere was embroiled in a dispute surrounded by guards.

Dorothea turned to look at the Tin Knight.

Suspicious armor and a pair of young women. A large-scale murder that took place in the back alley.

All sorts of keywords that sparked a glimmer of intuition filled her mind.

It seemed that due to the incident caused by Sophia and the Tin Knight, the wrong people were being suspected as culprits.

Well, given that the story of Kumara’s party was conveniently left out, it seemed that the credibility of that witness testimony wasn’t very high either.

[‘Tin Knight’ asks what you’re going to do.]

“What do you mean what to do?”

Dorothea puffed out her chest, stepping forward boldly.

In the opposite direction of where Gale was.

“I need to raise the output of the recognition-inhibiting magic. If you can, don’t attract attention.”

[‘Tin Knight’ admires your brilliant choice!]