Chapter 73

# Chapter 73: The Tin Knight and the Land of Deep Green (3)

Miraculously.

Or as expected, the horses were safe.

On the flip side, everything else was not so safe.

The top-tier wagon was shattered and sank to the bottom of the lake, and the cargo it carried had also met its demise.

In reality, for Dorothea, this wasn’t such a significant loss.

The compensation she had to pay Franka and the advance she received from the Halder Trading Company were mostly spent in TikTok anyway, and the rest consisted of spare clothing, blankets, and some minor items like feed for the horses.

The real problem was something else entirely.

“Everything’s gone…!”

Aah, a lament escaped from Dorothea’s lips.

She didn’t look very girl-like, but no one in the party dared to point that out.

Not even the Tin Knight, kneeling in a corner with his hands up (ignoring Dorothea’s advice that it would be more effective in a rough spot and stubbornly insisting on training Adel), nor even Sophia, who was useless below the shoulders.

Dorothea had a multi-purpose pouch or leather bag attached to her belt, which was filled with catalysts she used for magic.

However, right now, the pouch was completely empty.

During the process of tumbling into the lake and climbing back out, its contents had spilled out.

It was due to the fact that she hadn’t perfectly sealed the opening for easy access and most of the catalysts were in powder form.

All that remained were a wooden staff for defensive magic and a chain ring for negotiating with souls.

[“The Tin Knight says not to be so disheartened since he came here looking for catalysts anyway!”]

[“The Tin Knight argues that it’s good to organize your inventory before putting in a new item!”]

“Shut up!”

After yelling at the Tin Knight, Dorothea plopped down on the ground.

She seemed devoid of the usual energy to smack him around.

“Witch, here, eat this. It’s a bit wet, but it’s still edible.”

Adel, trying to reassure Dorothea, handed her a candy she had fished out from her bag.

Unlike Dorothea, who had lost her belongings (?), the damage Adel suffered was manageable.

It was the result of the Tin Knight’s abuse—or rather, his forethought shining through—making her run with a backpack to raise the training level of his subordinates.

“…You did bring that stuff along, so isn’t that why the bees went wild?”

“…Hah!”

It did seem to be more of an abuse after all.

“Anyway, shouldn’t we figure out what to do about our clothes first? I can deal with it, but you two might catch a cold if you stay like that.”

Sophia spoke toward Dorothea and Adel.

Perhaps due to her inherently weak constitution, her raised arms trembled slightly, but her expression remained disturbingly calm.

As Sophia pointed out, the appearance of the party could only be described as that of wet mice.

Sophia’s soaked clothes clung to her, revealing all her alluring curves, while Adel fared a little better due to her leather armor, but her skin was still visible here and there.

Among the three, Dorothea’s outward appearance changed the least.

Her villainous executive fashion was so striking to begin with that getting a little wet didn’t greatly increase its toxicity. (Some men’s opinions might differ.)

Normally, Dorothea would have used magic to dry them up, but with the catalysts evaporated, there was no choice but to dry them physically.

It was truly outrageous for one of the culprits to say such a thing, but Sophia’s observations were not incorrect, so Dorothea could only respond with a sour expression.

In a hurry, various beauties began gathering dry wood for a campfire and started taking off their clothes.

However, there was no exciting service time for anyone to enjoy…

“Tin can. You mentioned seeing the wreckage of the wagon. Go and recover anything useful like blankets.”

[“The Tin Knight says a lookout is needed!”]

“Forget it and just go. If things go south, we can sacrifice Sophia and make a run for it.”

“Oh my.”

[“The Tin Knight points out that excessive self-awareness isn’t a good thing!”]

[“The Tin Knight claims that when a guard is dropped off elsewhere, something always happens in between!”]

“That could be true.”

Dorothea reluctantly agreed.

“But your very existence is a series of incidents. If an accident is going to happen anyway, isn’t it better to have one instead of two?”

[“The Tin Knight is shocked!”]

Seemingly having said all she needed to, Dorothea waved her hand dismissively and banished the Tin Knight.

With no particular crime (though opinions may vary with others), the Tin Knight trudged into the lake feeling wronged by the witch who was treating him with such disregard.

[“The Tin Knight discovers a large fish and rejoices!”]

[“The Tin Knight announces the start of underwater battle season two!”]

[“The Tin Knight declares that tonight’s dinner will be fish stew!”]

Of course, it took less than three minutes for his feelings of grievance to dissipate.

He was truly a madman with no worries.

***

A few hours later.

The party, having completed some necessary tidying up, gathered around the campfire.

As the fish caught by the Tin Knight sizzled on the fire, the hottest topic was, of course, the bizarre phenomenon the Tin Knight and Sophia experienced at the bottom of the lake.

Dorothea glanced over at the Tin Knight, who was merrily spinning a skewer, and said, “So, because this guy used your magic, a vision appeared?”

“It’s unclear whether a mirage spread throughout the vicinity or if it was just visible to me and the Tin Knight,” Sophia replied.

“Hm.”

Dorothea seemed to enter thought momentarily before frowning.

“…The Tuberosum’s Chalice. It fills the cup with contents and grants the drinker the ability to have prophetic dreams. But you swallowed the cup whole, Sophia, and you said you never had a prophetic dream, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is it because the cup fused with you that the effect of the prophecy changed? The power that allows the recipient to glimpse into the future?”

“I agree that magic seems to be a condition, but I’m skeptical about whether that was a sight of the future. To me, it felt more like a glimpse into the past. A view of the forest before it grew this large.”

“The act of drinking from the cup transformed the process of receiving magic, and the future turned into the past? Still feels like a stretch.”

“Not being trapped by preconceived notions is also an important part of scholarly work!”

“You’re the one who’s trapped. Seriously, why’d you even eat that?”

Grumbling, Dorothea suddenly reached out her hand toward Sophia.

“Give it here.”

Sophia tilted her head before suddenly clapping her hands.

“…Ah, you want the necromancy catalyst? Offering a few bones is no problem, but they will disappear soon after detaching from my body.”

[“The Tin Knight admires the vile idea of using a companion as a resource!”]

“What nonsense is that!! I want magical power! Adel, why are you distancing yourself in panic?”

Dorothea huffed.

“Mumbling about how she ran into a necromancer as a teacher or not being able to recognize other schools until she was fully grown,” Dorothea said again, her voice laced with annoyance. “Sophia, shouldn’t we test if your magic has any special powers? So, hand over the magic.”

“Ah, I see.”

Understanding her, a calm Sophia captured Dorothea’s hand and began channeling her magic into it.

A red aura glimmered and enveloped one of Dorothea’s fingertips.

And then it suddenly stopped.

“What the heck, why did you stop?”

“I gave you everything!”

“…No, what am I supposed to do with this?”

Dorothea attempted to maneuver the meager amount of magic toward her eyes, but before she could even cross her wrist, the red light vanished without a trace. It looked as if she had added a spoonful of ink to a vast lake.

Dorothea muttered in disbelief.

“Is this really all of it?”

“I gave everything to the Tin Knight earlier.”

“It’s already been a few hours!”

“Haha, to regain the same amount of magic I gave the Tin Knight, it would take me at least a week. I bet the amount of mana you regenerate in an hour is greater than mine or Adel’s maximum. Honestly, I’m amazed by your constitution, Dorothea.”

“Cut the nonsense. So does this mean we have to wait a few days for the experiment?”

At that moment, the Tin Knight spoke up.

[“The Tin Knight suggests just putting Dorothea’s magic into Sophia!”]

“Hmm?”

Dorothea’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment, but then, thinking it wasn’t a bad idea, her expression softened.

“That’s not bad. Originally, magic changes depending on where it resides. If we put my magic inside Sophia, it’ll most likely take on her color.”

As Dorothea grabbed Sophia’s hand and pumped a load of magic into her, the magic began to swirl around Sophia’s body.

Watching the black magic change to a little red, Dorothea reacted with satisfaction.

At this rate, with some luck, in about a day, they would conduct a satisfactory experiment.

Wait, hold on a second.

“Hey, the magic’s leaking out. Aren’t you going to hold it?”

“I’ve never handled such a large amount of magic! My specialty is holy magic, after all.”

“Specialty or whatever, if you use it all, you’ll self-destruct…”

Dorothea sighed, covering her eyes with her hand.

Looking at the situation, if left unattended, more than half of the magic would evaporate, but even so, it would be quicker than waiting for Sophia’s natural recovery, so she figured she could take that as a consolation.

At that moment, Adel, who had been silently listening, raised her hand.

“So then, while we wait for the vision, what should we do in the meantime?”

“Originally, we were supposed to gather the catalysts. First of all, hey, don’t bring that fish too close to the fire! If you don’t keep some distance, the outside will burn while the insides stay raw!”

[“The Tin Knight insists that a nice bit of char will enhance the flavor!”]

“Flavor or not, you’ll never get to cook again.”

[“The Tin Knight humbly expresses that it’s wise to heed a specialist’s advice!”]

After confirming the Tin Knight’s posture was correcting, Dorothea opened her mouth again.

“First, we need to secure a base. Originally, I planned to set up a barrier around the wagon, but since that’s out, it wouldn’t be bad to just make a new one.”

“Right here?”

“It’s fine that there’s a water source nearby, but it’s still too close. We should set it up a bit farther away.”

Dorothea tightened her grip on her staff as she issued her commands.

“For now, I’ll prepare spells for pest control and moisture removal—essential magic for living in the forest. Sophia, you come with me. You should at least be able to pull some weeds… should be able to, I hope.”

“Understood.”

“And Adel, you stay by my side until we complete the base first. We need someone who can wield a sword. After it’s done, take that guy and go gather materials.”

“Yes!”

“Lastly, tin can.”

[“The Tin Knight waits with eager heart for a quest!”]

The Tin Knight’s eyes sparkled.

He seemed to have found the underwater battle at the lake bottom quite enjoyable, his expression filled with anticipation for the next fight.

A capable leader will always delegate tasks that suit the skills and motivation of the team.

And without a doubt, Dorothea was among the more capable ones.

“Go around catching nearby big boss-level creatures and bring back their corpses one by one.”

The moment calamity was unleashed upon the tranquil garden.

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