Switch Mode
You can get fewer ads when you log in and remove all ads by subscribing.

Chapter 57

“When a person touches something hot, they instinctively pull their hand back saying ‘Ouch! That’s hot!’

This is because the hand is sending a signal that if you keep touching it like that, you’re in big trouble.

But what if you ignore that signal with your brain?

What if, even though the spinal cord, acting as the middle management, has already commanded to pull away from the heat, it then orders you to go back and touch it again?

If it insists that it doesn’t care whether it’s hot or not, and insists you keep holding on, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Only a determination of a palm that was soft and plush turning into a crispy golden finish.

This was the ordeal faced by the field workers of Stromboli.

“Huh? You want us to observe how they work and only bring back the skilled ones?”

The headhunters were at a loss after receiving the directive from above.

It wasn’t that they didn’t understand the meaning of the command itself. It was more reasonable than just going in and dragging someone out like before.

But…

“How are we supposed to observe the work process?”

If it were earlier in the project, it might not have been a problem.

At that time, external work was the focus, and most workers were bustling in and out, hammering away.

But now?

The building’s exterior was over 90% complete; it just needed finishing touches, and most workers were inside the building.

As long as there was a wall to block their view, it was impossible for the headhunters to observe unless they were granted some kind of x-ray vision.

If the Stromboli company had a constructive and healthy company culture, the struggles of these field workers would have reached the higher-ups and requested a new order.

“Well, you all just have to figure it out. Aren’t you getting paid for that?”

Unfortunately, the company culture at Stromboli was not very healthy.

On ordinary days, it might have been somewhat decent, but now was not the time to be talking about a certain ‘master’ making Smith suffer.

After a few attempts to make similar suggestions to the master and receiving harsh replies, middle management turned a blind eye to the suffering of their subordinates to avoid getting scolded again. Even if some conscientious middle managers attempted to push the matter up, they were stopped by even higher-ups in the hierarchy.

The headhunters, while muttering profanities, had to find a way somehow.

Direct infiltration was impossible due to the gray and white knights patrolling the building.

Trying to observe from a distance with a telescope was futile as black smoke filled the area around the windows strange enough to be a deterrent.

Desperate to produce any result, the headhunters finally opened their wallets and hired a wizard.

“Please do your best.”

“Hmph, consider it lucky you found me. There are very few around the Empire who can use both x-ray vision and clairvoyance magic.”

“Yes, is there any doubt?”

Even though the wizard was clearly flaunting and acting like a big shot after being paid, the headhunters gritted their teeth but didn’t express it outwardly.

After all, what the wizard said wasn’t a lie.

The majority of the Empire’s wizards were of the wizarding variety; they were skilled at smashing enemies on the battlefield but lacked finesse with smaller spells.

Many of them chose to invest their time into enhancing fireballs rather than learning minor supportive spells. That was the reality of the Empire’s magician community.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

As the wizard stretched out his hands into the air, a massive ring composed of magical power and a slightly smaller ring appeared in front of him.

After some time passed, the scenery of the street began to reflect inside the large ring.

Even though they were observing from a distance, the view felt as though it was right before their very eyes, and the headhunters gasped in awe.

At least it seemed like their money wasn’t disappearing into thin air.

With a wave of his hand, the smaller ring began to move around, and in synchronization, the scenery reflected in the larger ring also changed.

And finally, the clairvoyance magic reached the newly constructed shop.

“Great, we can add the x-ray magic here.”

As the wizard conjured up new magic, the thick wall disappeared, and beyond it…

“Huh?”

The view was not visible.

For the first time, cracks appeared in the wizard’s face, which was usually filled with strictness, seriousness, and sobriety.

As if trying to calm the puzzled gazes around him, the wizard cleared his throat repeatedly.

“Just wait a moment.”

The wizard summoned more magic power.

After decades of honing his spells, this time he truly needed to pierce through that wall.

And then…

“HUUUH!?”

Right after, the wizard suddenly had a convulsion, grasped his chest, and collapsed.

“Uh, uh?”

“Are you alright? Snap out of it!”

The headhunters called out to the wizard in panic, but the wizard foamed at the mouth and couldn’t regain consciousness easily.

At least it seemed that his life wasn’t in immediate danger, which was a relief.

The headhunters exchanged glances.

They all simultaneously recalled the same scene.

Before the wizard collapsed, the black splotches and strangely glowing symbols that filled the inside of the ring.

Upon hearing the report from the headhunters, their superior clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, did you guys get scammed? Don’t you have any discerning eyes at all? What? Operational support funds? Why ask the company for that when you spent the money however you pleased?”

It was indeed a truly encouraging statement.

The boss’s words, which warmed the depths of their hearts to the point of igniting a fire, solidified their resolve.

‘Let’s just scribble down some names and send them. After all, one guy is just like another.’

‘I need to look for a new job.’

Thus, the Stromboli company newly recruited most excellent employees, and the existing staff lamented over the superb capabilities of the newcomers while the construction progressed steadily regardless.

And finally…

Smith & Sinc’s Doll Workshop opened its doors anew.

***

Charles Stromboli spat out with blazing eyes.

“Convey this to the workshop under my command. We need to lower the prices of all our products.”

“How much do you want to lower them?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Lower them below that damned shop! Lower them enough that travelers coming to TikTok won’t even glance at that store!”

“Master, it’s one thing if it’s just a few branches, but if we do that across all workshops, it’ll hit our sales hard!”

The subordinates were anxious.

The talented workers they had recruited were all useless, and no matter how much time passed, they couldn’t fulfill their roles.

Normally, the existing staff would have drilled and yelled at them to teach them work, but under the upper management’s command to ‘avoid upsetting the new employees’, they had long since given up due to the resentment of being treated poorly while those less competent were receiving better treatment. The new hires only gawped at the eyes of their surroundings, wasting time, or strutted about like they were something special.

The headhunters, who had worked hard yet received the insult of being ‘incompetent with no discerning eyes’, were now openly showing a poor attitude and openly threatening to quit if things continued this way. The finance department managing the company’s funds was crying out that there were no more reserves.

‘Even if we destroy Smith Geppetto’s store this way, what exactly is the benefit to our company?’

‘Just because their store is opening, it doesn’t mean our stores will all fail immediately. We have the advantage in location and recognition!’

‘Even if they succeed somehow, the actual market share taken from us would be minimal. Wouldn’t it have been better to just leave them be?’

Of course, Charles wasn’t unaware of these facts.

While being the bloodline of a Count played a significant role, Charles had enough minimum capability as the head of a company.

However, because of that, Charles couldn’t just stop here.

‘Having gotten this far, if it ends without any result, all the responsibility will fall upon me…!’

It wouldn’t matter if the Stromboli company was something Charles had built from the ground up by himself, but this was clearly a group that had the real owner, the Stromboli Count family, behind it.

And Charles’ brother, Count Stromboli, when the issue of responsibility arose, would more likely cut Charles out rather than protect him, then soothe the opinions within the company and appoint a suitable successor. There were other members of the Count family, after all.

Focusing on sunk costs was a surefire path to ruin, but with his position on the line, Charles had no choice but to stay involved in this matter.

“I’ll concede, Smith. You’re the first to push me into such a corner. I underestimated the revenge I’ve been planning for years. But in the end, I will be the one to laugh!”

It was a good thing Smith couldn’t hear this.

He would probably just be filled with question marks.

***

Smith Geppetto and Charles Stromboli.

The two men were engaged in a once-in-a-lifetime battle! (One side wasn’t even aware that the duel had begun.)

Thanks to Charles’s last-ditch effort, an unexpected festival was taking place in TikTok.

“Come on in! Come on in! The best products at the lowest prices, an unparalleled chance!”

“At our Stromboli Workshop No. 1, we have decided to launch an unprecedented service in return for your continued patronage!”

“It’s the perfect opportunity to acquire a magical automaton that can be utilized for escorting, labor, and various tasks! Even if you’re not a wizard, just by using the special magical power batteries we provide, you too can become the owner of a magical automaton!”

The adventurer, Kumara, listening to the enthusiastic calls of the Stromboli staff, turned to his party member, the wizard Magia, and asked.

“So, the magical automatons can be used by anyone, even if they aren’t wizards?”

“They can, theoretically.”

“That sounds a bit loaded.”

“Even if you call it a battery, it’s ultimately a consumable. Regular folks lack the skill to handle magical power and won’t have enough to move the automaton. It’s not that there aren’t occasionally people born with great magical power without training, but those cases are rare. This means they’ll constantly have to buy new batteries from the shop every time the automaton stops functioning, but it might just be cheaper to hire a wizard instead.”

As if to say ‘from the get-go’, Magia added.

“The production and operational costs of magical automatons are far too high for mass production, and their efficiency is poor compared to the resources put in. That’s why the Empire doesn’t prioritize them.”

“Indeed. In short, they are just mediocre.”

Kumara nodded.

Then, he turned to point at two knights in the vicinity.

“What about those two? Are they mediocre as well?”

Magia replied simply as her gaze followed Kumara’s.

“Don’t conflate general cases with special instances. You fool.”

***

Unlike Albert, whose entire city was surrounded by tall walls, TikTok, the city of gears, had only the lord’s castle as a significant structure amidst an absence of fortified walls.

But even in TikTok, there was a place that could be deemed the city’s ‘main gate’, guarded by checkpoints and guards.

One of the guards asked the captain.

“Is it really okay to cooperate on this?”

“What’s the harm? They aren’t just doing whatever they like; they politely asked for permission beforehand. Besides, all the cooperation means is that we’re simply standing back and watching.”

Visualizing the elegantly daring girl in a white dress with blonde hair, the captain responded.

“They probably won’t cause a ruckus in Stromboli, will they?”

“Let them do as they like. I’ll raise my hand to stop them if needed. Honestly, seeing those pretenders strutting around, I hope they get a dose of reality this time.”

“That’s true.”

Since the duty of the guards could easily be replaced by magical automatons, perhaps reflecting on them, the guard agreed with the captain’s words.

Whether heaven heard the wishes of the guards or not, pedestrians strolling down the street started to stop one by one as they witnessed ‘that scene’.

“What’s that? They’re holding weapons; isn’t that dangerous?”

“The guards are around, so it should be fine.”

“They have a lot of tools; is this some sort of show?”

As the crowd gathered enough attention, one of the shop owners, Sinc Geppetto from the Smith & Sinc Workshop, took a deep breath and raised his voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Our Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop has newly opened! To celebrate our grand opening, we’re going to showcase something special, so come take a look!”

As he said that, Sinc tossed daggers he held in both hands at the two knights.

Clang, clang echoed twice, and the daggers were deflected by a sword and spear.

As the daggers soared high into the sky, once again, the sword and spear moved to keep sending them back up.

Sinc continued to throw new daggers, and with each throw, the number of daggers ascending to the sky increased.

Maybe it was due to Sinc’s lack of experience with this, as some daggers flew erratically, but the two knights didn’t mind at all.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

With a rhythmic metallic sound, the daggers continued to rise and fall.

Before this bizarre juggling of swords and spears, the eyes of bystanders widened.

“Wow, can they really do that?”

“The skill is no joke!”

The two knights, walking forward nonchalantly while performing something that looked difficult even to do while standing still.

Then, the tin knight pointed at one of the onlookers with its free left hand.

“Huh?”

The pointed-onlooker was startled, but as the tin knight kept pointing at the suitable-sized stone at the passerby’s feet, and then back to itself, the meaning finally clicked.

“Do you want me to throw this?”

The tin knight nodded up and down.

After a slight hesitation, the onlooker cautiously tossed the stone.

The tin knight effortlessly struck the stone up into the air.

The stone joined the flowing choreography of the juggling daggers.

Cheers from the surrounding crowd grew even louder.

The tin knight’s gaze turned to the white knight.

Initially showing no reaction, the white knight finally heard someone call out from the audience.

“Sig! Don’t stop!”

With that shout, a flashy glass bottle flew towards the white knight.

Everyone thought the bottle would shatter, but as the white knight smoothly moved its spear, the bottle soared into the air without breaking.

At this point, the audience was fully engaged.

“Catch this too!”

“Hey, over here!”

“Wait a moment, everyone! Calm down, ahhh!?”

Like children enchanted by the sound of a magical flute.

A multitude of spectators began to follow the two automatons.

All the way to the Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop at the end!


Tired of ads? Subscribe for just $2 to unlock all locked chapters and remove all ads. Login or Signup to subscribe.
You can get fewer ads when logging in and remove all ads by subscribing for just $2 per month.
I Became a Tin Knight

I Became a Tin Knight

Status: Ongoing

「You see before you a tin knight, flecked with rust.」

「To this stranger, to this unfamiliar soul, yes, to none other than ‘you’, the knight makes a request.」

「You can choose to accept the knight’s request and write a new story, or ignore it and refuse.」

「So, what will you do?」

「1. Begin the story.」

「2. Do not begin.」

A Wicked Witch, trailed by vengeful spirits and curses.

“Hey, Tin Can! Did I not tell you to stop causing trouble?!”

A Courageous Lion, descended from the bloodline of a hero.

“Uh, no matter what, this seems like a bit much, no? Huh? Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger? Um, Sir Knight? Sir Knight!?”

A Scarecrow, sealed away for pursuing forbidden knowledge.

“Despite appearances, I’m quite capable from the shoulders up. Below that, you say? Let’s see, if I had to give a cold self-assessment… perhaps an emergency shield?”

A Solitary Tin Knight, forever barred from human warmth.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ urges everyone to initiate the boss battle, saying the cut scene is over!]

This is a cruel, fairytale-like adventure story told by twisted protagonists.

…Maybe!

Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset