Chapter 8

“You and your group managed to enter the city without a hitch.”

No funds were spent.

Thanks to the gatekeeper, who awakened his long-suppressed conscience and chivalry after decades, you were treated as “special guests.”

He shed tears until the last moment before leaving the main gate, which made it easy to guess his grateful heart.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ is impressed by the convenient curse!]

“Oh, that? Just bragging.”

At your admiration, Dorothea waved her hand.

“You can’t use a powerful curse like body transformation so easily. It’s not like a consensual contract like with the kingdom’s nobles, and if it’s a curse forced onto you, the chances of it failing are high, even if you prepare the right offering and conduct the proper ceremony.”

Considering the risks, Dorothea added that it’s better not to act at all.

You tilted your head, having clearly seen the gatekeeper’s hand transform like a beast.

“That’s just an illusion. It just looked furry temporarily. Even without me doing anything, it would have returned to normal in half a day.”

You thought, isn’t it amazing to temporarily make it look furry without preparation, even if it’s just for half a day?

[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims he would do well selling to bald people!]

“No way, that’s ridiculous… Does that even make sense?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists there are many people in the world who want to look lavish, even if it means spending money!]

Dorothea seemed to seriously ponder your suggestion.

She might have thought it was a pretty good way to generate income.

“Hey, Witch. Knight. Just a moment.”

At the sound calling you, you turned around to find Roni, looking quite tense for some reason.

With a nervous expression, she said, “Is this really okay? The author might seek revenge with a grudge.”

Recalling the gatekeeper’s flexible waist like a foldable phone, it didn’t seem likely, but Roni looked thoroughly uneasy.

Dorothea didn’t specifically deny Roni’s concerns either.

“Well, aside from the parties involved, there is a possibility of external interference. There were many watching. This is a matter of face.”

“In that case—”

“But, you know,”

Dorothea’s gaze focused on Roni.

“You didn’t come here to be treated like guests, right? If some high-ranking person in this city says, ‘Your lady can’t be taken, she’s our merchandise,’ would you just say, ‘Oh, I see. Then there’s nothing I can do,’ and turn back?”

“Ugh.”

Roni blushed at Dorothea’s point.

“If we can achieve our goal without fighting and while following the rules, that would be the best. But unavoidable things are unavoidable. Worrying about past events won’t solve anything.”

“…I’m sorry for showing such wavering.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me. It’s better to quickly find those slave traders instead. I’ve got my own stuff to do, so I can’t help with that.”

Roni seemed to be about to say something but instead just lowered her head and walked away.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims it’s quite a cold attitude!]

“Isn’t it weird to expect kindness from a witch?”

At your remark, Dorothea snorted.

“As I said from the start, those people’s matters are just a side thing for me, a side thing. If it won’t be much of a hindrance during my main tasks, I can give a little help if needed, that’s about it. Don’t expect me to treat you like a hero.”

Or, she added.

“Why don’t you step up and help? You were the one who brought it up in the first place.”

Well, you thought in awe, given that you didn’t have vocal cords.

Dorothea’s suggestion was unexpected.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if it’s okay not to have escorts nearby!]

“If needed, I’ll call for help. Other than that, you’re free.”

As she said that, Dorothea handed you a small skull.

Maybe because of its adorable size, it looked more cute than scary.

“If that thing makes a racket, it’ll be my signal. Don’t lose it. You also don’t want to be in trouble without someone to supply magical power, right?”

Having said all that, Dorothea walked away without hesitation.

You tilted your head again.

Should you see that as tsundere, or something entirely different? You couldn’t tell.

But whichever it was, you preferred this attitude over tightly stapling your actions and putting petty restrictions on you.

You headed in Roni’s direction.

***

Roni Locksley exhaled a deep sigh.

It was a self-deprecating sigh filled with disappointment in her own incompetence and helplessness.

Initially, she felt hurt by Dorothea’s cold attitude, but after cooling off a bit, she found it understandable.

She had jumped into a fight with thieves to save the lady, only to get caught in a net, unable to wield her sword even once and ended up as a slave.

Crawling on her knees, she had sought help from a bright red stranger, and despite her active actions, she could do nothing but worry.

Even after entering the city with the witch’s help, instead of actively searching for the lady, she was just waiting for instructions from the two.

Looking back coldly at her actions over the past few days, the shame was nearly making her want to scream.

‘If only Lord Lowell were here, or even one of the senior knights from the order. They would have taken much better care of the lady than I could.’

‘To take meaningful action, I need to give orders to those I’ve come with and act as a group. But would everyone follow the words of someone who isn’t even a proper knight?’

‘The lady must be safe. If anything were to happen to her, our territory would truly be finished.’

Negative thoughts tend to spiral.

Already being worn out and stressed by being dragged around by the slave traders, her psychological state was unstable enough that her complexion looked almost that of a seriously ill patient.

“Are you okay, Roni?”

Seeing her like that, a woman nearby offered a comforting word.

She was a victim who had worked as a servant in the lord’s castle.

Seeing the worried expression, Roni managed a forced smile and replied.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Please, don’t be too disheartened. The witch said to call if she needs help, so if we can just find out where those thieves are, we can manage somehow.”

It was indeed an optimistic statement.

If a senior could hear it, who had always said that commanders must prepare for the worst-case scenario, they would probably have burst out laughing.

However, right now, it became a comforting thing for Roni.

“Yes, that’s true. It will surely work out.”

But perhaps because the world is inherently heartless.

Just as Roni was about to stand up, having finally regained her strength, another trial came her way.

“Roni! It’s serious!”

Hearing the news delivered by one of her companions sent to find accommodations, Roni hardened her expression and sprinted into the street.

There, a scuffle between half a dozen women and an equal number of men was taking place.

Roni tightened her abdomen and shouted in a knightly tone.

“What’s going on?”

“Huh?”

“Roni!”

The men looked at each other with expressions of ‘What’s this?’ while the women hastily hid behind Roni.

Suddenly faced with several rugged looking men, Roni was nervous inside but maintained a composed demeanor as she asked.

“It’s disgraceful for men to gather and oppress women. What is your business?”

The men exchanged glances, and soon one stepped forward and pointed at a woman behind Roni.

“That gal behind you stole my wallet.”

“That’s a lie!!”

The woman, being pointed out, shrieked almost in a fit.

“I was just walking on the street! But suddenly, I was accused of stealing a wallet!”

“Ha! Then does a thief openly admit, ‘Oh, I did it!’?”

Your mind went into a tangle.

Roni didn’t know the woman who was accused of pickpocketing well.

After all, it had only been a few days since they met.

But thinking rationally, the chance that a woman who hadn’t eaten or bathed properly for days would attempt to pickpocket in a strange city seemed lower than the likelihood that the men were misunderstanding or intentionally trying to pick a fight.

Thus, Roni shook her head.

“That can’t be true. Do you have any evidence that she stole?”

“Evidence? We can just search her body to check!”

So having tangible evidence meant that if they found something that resembled a wallet, the man could just claim it was his, and that would be that.

If it weren’t for the faint smirks and sinister gazes from those men’s lips, Roni might have believed it too.

“Fine. Then tell me the details of the wallet. If it’s yours, you should be able to describe it.”

“A wallet is a wallet; what kind of detail can I give! You keep yapping, so are you covering for your friend? Acting all suspicious for making a big deal out of a simple check?”

Roni was left speechless and dumbfounded.

The man’s demand was utterly unreasonable.

By that logic, whether what they found was the man’s wallet or the woman’s, he could just insist it belonged to him and that would settle the issue.

“Stop with the nonsense! If that’s the case, we can go to the guards—”

She paused mid-sentence.

Recalling what those gatekeepers had done on the way into the city.

It’s foolish to judge the whole by a part, yet those gatekeepers, so shamelessly playing the role of face of the guards, seemed unlikely to be reliable.

Roni looked around.

Passersby were merely watching the commotion with curious eyes; no one was stepping in to help or call for aid.

While all six men were armed, only three of the women, including Roni, were capable of fighting.

And those three had only grasped weapons out of a desire for revenge against thieves; their actual skills were nothing impressive.

Her honor, once dreamed of as becoming a knight, urged her to protect her innocent companion. Said she should not turn a blind eye to injustice.

But after going through tough situations recently, her survival instincts and selfishness had sharply increased. It whispered that it would end if she just let one of them go. Maybe the men were telling the truth.

Roni closed her eyes tightly.

And.

Swish!

As she opened her eyes, she drew her sword.

“You want to go?”

The men pulled out their weapons in unison.

As if awaiting a bloody stage, the crowd cheered.

Before that cheer could even die down, Roni charged forward.

She did not know the enemies’ skill levels, and they had numbers overwhelmingly against her.

Therefore, the way to seize superiority was through ambush.

Roni was a knight in the making.

Although she was far from being a proper knight and had her training pushed back due to lack of talent, she had steadily trained her physical strength and swordsmanship since childhood, which was not comparable to that of ordinary people.

From the upper right to the lower left.

With a clean slash, she deeply cut into the chest of a man who couldn’t respond to the sudden attack.

As she pulled back her sword, swinging it to the right, the man beside him bent over, spewing blood from his neck.

Having subdued two men in an instant, Roni quickly peered at the expressions of the men.

She hoped to see fear and confusion on their faces.

“This brat dares!”

But instead of looking scared, the men were rushing at Roni in anger.

Roni swung her sword to respond, but being overwhelmed in numbers, her limbs quickly became disoriented.

The other women, perhaps terrified of the brutal scene of wildly swinging blades, stood by helplessly and only wasted time.

Clang!

With a sharp metallic sound, Roni’s stance crumbled significantly.

A blade came flying towards her face.

Just when that one brave yet futile effort was supposed to end.

It wasn’t until someone suddenly stretched out their hand and grabbed the sword aimed at Roni.

Creek, creek, an annoying sound echoed.

Grabbing a sharp blade with bare hands was indeed a very dangerous act, but it didn’t seem to matter to the intruder.

The intruder’s hand was made of solid metal, not soft flesh and blood.

Clang!

As the intruder gripped harder, the sword clutched in his hand could no longer withstand the pressure and snapped.

Before the man who had aimed to stab Roni could comprehend this absurdity, the punch swung by the intruder hit his face directly.

The man’s body spun heavily in the air before collapsing to the ground.

In a scene almost comical and exaggerated, everyone present held their breath.

And then.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ dashed toward the remaining foes.]

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