I Became a Tin Knight

Dorothea thought.

I don’t really feel like it. It’s suspicious, too.

For one, there was no guarantee that Franka was speaking the truth.

No, even if there were several ways to verify whether it was a lie or not, she and Franka had once been out for each other’s lives.

There was no reason to readily respond to Franka’s request for help.

But still.

Glance.

Dorothea stole a quick glance at the Tin Knight.

Though his expression remained unchanged—which was natural since he didn’t have expressions to begin with—after traveling together for a considerable time, she could now tell.

It was nothing new that what would be considered “troublesome and dangerous” by normal sensibilities was “interesting and fun” by the Tin Knight’s standards.

In other words, if she coldly refused here, it was clear that the Tin Knight would grumble.

Above all, a bet was a bet.

She had an obligation to let the Tin Knight participate in the martial arts tournament.

If they had to participate in the tournament anyway, it was only rational to maximize the benefits from it.

Dorothea let out a short sigh, then changed her expression and opened her mouth, “Alright, I’ll accept it. Your proposal that is.”

***

Thracus Cup Martial Arts Tournament.

• Individual Participant: Adelaide von Lennart

• Team Participants: Team Dorothea (Tin Knight / Dorothea Aschengard / Sophia Hubris)

After completing the tournament registration, Adelaide asked with a hint of unease, “Um, am I really going to participate in the individual matches?”

Dorothea shrugged, “Honestly, I’d prefer to take you rather than Sophia, who’s not much help in combat, but this guy is being stubborn.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that this is a golden opportunity to test Adel’s new style!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that to avoid becoming a greenhouse flower, she must gain experience fighting alone!]

“Oh.”

Adelaide’s words got stuck.

She felt wronged.

No, maybe before, but these days, I don’t think I deserve to be called a greenhouse flower…

Whether reading Adelaide’s inner thoughts or seeing it written all over her face, Dorothea spoke as if to comfort her, “Well, just do as much as you can. Even third place would be something to boast about, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s…. well.”

At Dorothea’s words, Adelaide felt a bit tempted.

The Thracus martial arts tournament was one of the most famous on the continent.

In fact, aside from the irregular tournaments hosted by powerful figures such as the emperor or dukes, this was essentially the best and biggest among tournaments.

In other words, if she achieved excellent results here, it would be an accomplishment worth boasting about even after returning to the domain.

If she got excellent results in the team competition, she might be suspected of riding on others’ coattails, but in individual matches, she would be free from such suspicions.

Above all, unlike the position of representative instructor at Tik-Tok, this couldn’t be canceled by the main line’s wishes, which in itself was appealing.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he’ll train Adel to the limit until the tournament starts!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if Adel is ready to become stronger!]

The Tin Knight extended his right hand.

Adelaide grasped that right hand with a determined expression.

“Yes!”

***

About 46 hours later.

“Haah, haah!”

Thud.

With a pale face, Adelaide collapsed powerlessly.

Her breathing was rough, and her clothes were close to rags.

Sophia approached Adelaide, who looked close to her limit to anyone’s eyes.

“No, no…!”

Adelaide shook her head with a tearful face, but Sophia opened her mouth with sorrowful eyes, “I’m sorry, Miss Adel, but you know it can’t be helped.”

“Sob.”

Adelaide tightly closed her eyes.

Then, Sophia extended her hand to Adelaide.

The next moment, white light burst forth, infusing Adelaide’s body with vitality and vigor.

Although Adelaide experienced the miraculous effect of wounds disappearing and even fatigue and exhaustion being partially reversed, her face didn’t look happy at all.

Rather, it only turned even paler.

The Tin Knight placed his hand on Adelaide’s shoulder with a thud.

Towards Adelaide, who had her hair standing on end like a cat, the Tin Knight gave a thumbs up.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shouts, ‘Just one more set, member!’]

“Kyaaaaaaah!” Adelaide screamed.

It was a wail so pitiful, it would have moved any listeners to feel sorry for her. Of course, the heartless madman didn’t care and Sophia was smiling as if she had never had sad eyes.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that judging by the loud voice, the holy magic seems to have worked properly!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ finds it heartwarming how Adel’s companions are helping with her training with one heart and mind!]

The Tin Knight’s words weren’t empty talk.

The party was really helping Adelaide’s training with one heart and mind.

Whenever she became exhausted or got injured, Sophia healed her, and when her mana ran out, Dorothea replenished it.

There was a limit to physical recovery using holy magic, so a one-hour rest period was given every 6 hours, but other than that, endless waves of training crashed over Adelaide.

It was training that would shock any warrior with common sense.

No matter how much external assistance replenished physical strength and mana, if an ordinary person digested such a schedule, some part of their body would break down instantly.

However, Adelaide was an exception.

Sophia spoke admiringly, “The constitution of the Lion Duke’s bloodline is truly amazing. The total amount of stamina is much higher than an ordinary person’s, but the recovery speed is almost on par with that of a young child. Is this true for all of the bloodline, or is Miss Adel particularly outstanding?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says it’s paying off to have thoroughly trained the basics until now!]

Of course, whether others admired it or not was none of Adelaide’s concern.

Unlike the two non-humans who had no connection with words like sleep or rest, she wanted to argue with all her might that normal people like her needed to rest properly—if Dorothea had heard this, she would have coldly pointed out that Adelaide wasn’t normal either.

Seeing Adelaide sprawled out like a blanket on a clothesline even after recovery was complete, the Tin Knight seemed to feel something and said.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that if Adel can land a proper hit on him, training will end at that point!]

Flinch.

Adelaide’s body reacted greatly.

With light in her eyes that had been like a frozen pollack’s, Adelaide asked, “What’s the standard for a hit?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ informs her that it’s landing an attack on the torso area!]

“How long is the rest period?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says 24 hours!]

Adelaide grasped her sword tightly with both hands.

Golden mana seeped out from her entire body.

With her sword held diagonally over her right shoulder, Adelaide charged forward.

In contrast, the Tin Knight met Adelaide without wrapping mana around his body.

Clang!

[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out that even if Adel increases her cutting power with sword energy, if she doesn’t land a proper hit, the power greatly decreases!]

Clang!

[The ‘Tin Knight’ advises that the sword is just one of many means of attack, keep some variety!]

Thud!

[The ‘Tin Knight’ advises Adel to actively utilize her light weight!]

The sword strikes didn’t stop.

Even after rolling on the ground several times, Adelaide relentlessly charged at the Tin Knight without rest.

At first, the Iron Stake Mercenary Company members, who were watching out of curiosity, stuck out their tongues in shock.

The security team that was dispatched after hearing about sword sounds echoing in a park in the special district praised the sight and turned back.

Even nobles who came to build connections after hearing rumors that one of the representative instructors of the Lennart dojo was here shook their heads and left.

As time passed like this, after the sun rose and set several times.

Thud!

Adelaide’s sword, swung with her whole body rotating, struck the Tin Knight.

Seeing Adelaide’s sword half-buried in his shoulder, the Tin Knight declared.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares she passed the test!]

“…”

Adelaide didn’t shout in joy.

She didn’t shed tears of emotion.

She simply stared blankly at her hand and the Tin Knight’s shoulder alternately, then…

“Haa.”

With a faint breath, she collapsed to the side.

The Tin Knight quickly caught Adelaide’s body and supported her.

Adelaide was unconscious—so deeply that she wouldn’t wake up easily.

Sophia approached them, “Good job you two.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ rejoices that they safely reached the target!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that the last strike would have gone deeper if he hadn’t wrapped mana around his body!]

“I don’t know much about martial arts, but even to my eyes, Miss Adel is excellent.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses gratitude to Sophia again!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says they succeeded in short-term intensive training thanks to the holy magic!]

“No, well, Miss Adel’s innate recovery ability was so excellent that there wasn’t much for me to do. It was a bit troublesome to use it while avoiding others’ eyes. I don’t think I’ll be able to use it during the tournament with so many spectators, is that okay?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses his preference for restricted combat.]

“Well, that’s a relief.”

The conversation paused for a moment.

After staring at Adelaide’s figure for a while, Sophia suddenly said as if she just remembered something, “By the way, Sir Tin?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ wonders why Sophia’s calling him!]

“No, it’s nothing much. Um, you told Miss Adel that if she passed the test, she’d get 24 hours of rest, corrects?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ confirms that he did!]

“But, since she needs to recover her condition a day before the tournament anyway, she was getting a break regardless, correct?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ agrees that’s correct!]

“But since now is one day before the tournament, wouldn’t Miss Adel have been able to rest anyway, whether she landed the hit or not?”

The Tin Knight paused for a moment—only about 5 seconds.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims that’s just how the words of training instructors are!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that no matter how hard you try after hearing you can finish early if you work hard, the time you go home is always the same, anyway!]

The Tin Knight truly lacked a human heart.

***

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