Chapter 94

# Chapter 94: The Tin Knight and the Martial Arts Tournament (1)

You were quite giddy.

It was because your training results exceeded your expectations.

Adelheid was a genius. Especially when it came to physical abilities.

Though she seemed to have done nearly no training before meeting you, her reflexes, quick recovery, and sharp senses were literally natural talents.

So outstanding was she that her relatively decent understanding and judgment of martial arts seemed to pale in comparison.

If the software was at an intermediate to advanced level, the hardware was top-notch.

The more you rolled her, the more she grew, and with her weak foundation, she had no weird habits or unnecessary stubbornness, following your lead effortlessly.

As a teacher, it was rare to find someone this enjoyable to work with.

Thus, you were determined to give your all in teaching Adel.

Was that why, when Dorothea said, “You know, it’s great that you work hard, but consider Adel’s limits a bit. You’re pushing her too hard,” you could only tilt your head in confusion?

You had the insight passed down from the Tin Knight.

Even against unfamiliar enemies, it was a decent skill, but when it came to Adel, who you were directly training, it functioned almost like a precision gauge.

You were actively using this tool, always pushing Adel to her limits, but had never truly pushed her past them.

That kind of training might guarantee results in the short term, but accumulating fatigue and damage to the body would be a longer-term loss.

To put it numerically, you’d allocated 30 to strength training, 30 to evasion training, and another 30 to swordsmanship out of a total of 100 action points, finishing off with 10 for magical training instead of 30 for jumping.

You were rather proud of the schedule you had crafted, unable to comprehend Dorothea’s words, but soon thought that she must be misunderstanding something and began to explain.

[‘The Tin Knight’ insists that he is considering Adel’s limits while training her!]

To your statement, the witch fixed her gaze on you.

Then she uttered one line.

“Does the limit you’re talking about include mental aspects too?”

You fell silent.

Such elements were not considered in your calculations.

Even the insights and intuition of the Tin Knight didn’t extend to discerning a person’s mental state.

The witch leaned awkwardly against the wall and continued.

“That girl has a goal to inherit the territory left by her father. She has the will to help her mother, and she wants to become a new version of herself that isn’t so powerless as before. Plus, her personality is quite silly and naïve, meaning even if she struggles, she usually shakes it off after a while.”

But the witch added,

“Being resilient and being unaffected are two different things. If you confuse the two, you might have a headache later on.”

With that final statement, the witch left.

You grumbled about her meddling as you pondered.

If there was fatigue, using it to its limit was the right thing to do. Leaving action points unused was a waste.

It was too unreasonable to demand consideration of invisible data.

In the Tin Knight’s perspective, you reflected,

People cannot be interpreted by numbers alone. Even if there is no physical issue, there could definitely be mental problems.

If you truly regarded Adel as a comrade and a pupil, you should also have considered the burden she felt.

You and you were having different thoughts and feelings.

But that didn’t mean you were two separate entities. Humans inherently hold contradictory emotions and wish for two different things at the same time.

You suddenly felt a heaviness in your body.

It felt like you were floating aimlessly in mid-air before finally placing your feet on the ground.

Outside the monitor, you looked around.

A small, closed-off room.

No one else was present, a disconnected space.

A body that didn’t feel hunger without eating, nor fatigue without sleeping.

If this were a dream, it would be no problem at all.

But if it’s not a dream, not data, not a game, and if it were all reality, then what would you be? What are you?

It was at that moment, when you were feeling overwhelmed.

“Tin Knight?”

You focused on the monitor/turned your gaze to the side.

There stood Sophia.

Looking at you with her blood-tinged pink eyes, she then smiled brightly and said,

“How about we throw a small party to celebrate after Adel wakes up? Just a little something to boost morale before the tournament kick-off.”

‘Well, neither of us, nor the Tin Knight, can cook worth a dime, so we should probably ask Dorothea about it, but I bet she’d grumble and eventually help anyway,’ you thought.

You could easily imagine her, ruthless to enemies but soft-hearted with comrades.

You suddenly felt a cheerful mood washing over you.

The heaviness that had been pressing down lifted, and the usual sensation of buoyancy returned.

Caught in a feeling like you hadn’t slept in a long time and were just a bit tipsy, almost dream-like, you opened your mouth.

[‘The Tin Knight boldly declares that shopping is one of his special skills!’]

***

In a typical large city, the lord usually possesses considerable authority and power.

The larger the territory, the wealthier the economy, and the stronger the military, all these factors bolster the lord’s influence.

However, Trakus was an exception, with the lord’s authority and presence not being that strong.

This was largely due to the overwhelming presence of Kalidahs, known as the strongest champion in history, overshadowing everything else.

Furthermore, the distinctive character of the city of Trakus contributed to this as well.

If a certain family had built their territory from scratch, the lord and his family would wield significant influence. However, the growth of Trakus depended more on outside capital rather than the efforts of the lord’s family.

What I mean is, when a sponsor says, “Hey, Lord. Do this for me,” it’s hard for the lord to just flat out refuse.

Thus, the lord of Trakus lamented,

“Damn it. Am I a lord or a sales rep?”

“Well, it’s not a bad plan, is it? This tournament has drawn about double the number of people compared to last time, so it has its merits.”

Despite his aide’s consolation, the face of the lord of Trakus showed no sign of brightening.

“The schedule for the second half must be completely redone. There will be complaints from the nobles who planned trips according to the original tournament schedule. I’ve got to persuade the participants too.”

-Create an additional event where winners of the individual and team competitions face off.

That demand from Franka Aglaia was the very source of the lord’s wrinkles.

In the Empire, when those in power gain wealth, the Federal system turns the wealthy into the powerful.

The Aglaia family was among the richest in the Federation and was the biggest supporter of Trakus.

And Franka was the treasured pearl of the Aglaia family.

While the right of inheritance belonged to her brother, the favor she received from the family head was certainly not inferior to his.

“Sigh, I guess I have no choice. Let’s proceed as requested.”

Thus, the lord complied with Franka’s demands, wearing a bitter expression.

Considering that the wagon he rode in, and all the garments he wore at the party were funded by the Federation, he could barely imagine the kind of storm that would brew if he refused this request.

‘…Well, it’s not unusual for sponsors to make unexpected requests. It’s one of those regular events that happen. It’s still better than direct solicitations trying to interfere with the battle results.’

The lord of Trakus suddenly rubbed his temples.

The memory of a certain group that sent a solicitation aiming to interfere directly with battle results came to mind.

The second son of the Heidern Marquis family.

The leader of the ‘Patriotic Youth Corps,’ a gathering of young nobles from the Empire.

And a certain spoiled brat who thinks he can make a ruckus all over the place thanks to his aunt, the Empress.

-“What? You’re telling me to steadily rise up from preliminaries? You want me to start in the same place as the commoners? Hey, Trakus lord, cut out the nonsense and just shove me and my crew straight into the finals. It’s the perfect opportunity to prove your patriotism.”

Recalling Maximilian’s recent proposal, no, his tantrum, made the lord’s blood vessels throb.

No matter how good of a lineage he had, it still infuriated him to be treated like a subordinate by someone without a proper title.

“What’s the brat’s condition? How’s Maximilian and his crew doing?”

“They’ve been somewhat quiet lately.”

The face of the subordinate who spoke held quite a bit of disdain.

“Seems the South Witch’s apprentice has come to visit. Looks like they’re often going there for, um, ‘personal exchanges.’”

“…Well chosen words. But control that expression of yours a bit. It’s fine in front of me, but if you show such emotion in front of them, you could end up in serious trouble.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

After averting his gaze from the expressionless bureaucrat, the lord returned to his review of the participant list.

Individual event participants.

-Maximilian Egiir Heidern

-Peter

-Mir Volberg

Team event participants.

-Alingd Goodwitch and 2 others.

-Maris von Renatre and 2 others.

-Kumara and 2 others.

“Put the brat aside, but we have the legendary adventurer, the ‘Destruction’ Mage of the Magical Tower, the South Witch’s apprentice, the young blood of the Lion Duke’s bloodline, and the acclaimed Silver-tier adventurer party. Wow, just wow.”

This tournament was bound to get quite lively, the lord thought, clicking his tongue.