The Tin Knight

Chapter 89: The Tin Knight and The City of Struggle (8)

The mood of Lorentz Halder, the head of the Halder Company, was fluctuating like a roller coaster, “What? A messenger bird came saying they found them at the Thracus branch? Huh, they’ve already moved there? Bring me that letter right away.”

At first, he smiled brightly upon hearing news of Dorothea’s party, but...

“...The fuck is this?”

After seeing the contents of the letter, he couldn’t help but spit out such rough words that he had been trying to avoid since taking the position of company head.

Lorentz, along with a trusted subordinate, went through the contents of the letter one by one.

“So, without my permission, he modified the elixir recipe as he pleased, and fed something meant for horses to people? And in the process, he sold the witch’s name without authorization? On top of that, when the party demanded payment for the treasure sale, not only did he not give it, but he drugged them with paralytic and even used force with hired thugs? What kind of batshit crazy thing has my brother-in-law—no, that bastard Joseph done!?”

His head was spinning, and his neck was stiff.

While some were trying hard to gain the favor of the witch’s party, even gifting a top-class carriage, this brother-in-law not only interfered with the plan, but also made a complete mess of things. How could his blood pressure not spike?

Towards the raging Lorentz, his confidant cautiously raised a question, “But, um, isn’t this a bit strange?”

“Strange? What do you mean?”

“Well, the one who sent this letter is the perpetrator of that incident.”

There was a saying about confessing to find enlightenment, but even that had its limits.

For someone who had been so boldly ignoring the intentions of the higher-ups and acting recklessly to suddenly send an apology letter as well as progress report, saying, “I have committed such-and-such wrongs. I deeply repent in my heart,” it was too unnatural.

“Well, the letter does mention related content. It says he realized his sins after being scolded by Lady Dorothea.”

“No, no, we’re discussing an adult here, not some child. Moreover, can a person who committed such acts really change so much just from being scolded once?”

“Hmm.”

They couldn’t even dream that ghosts were clinging tightly to Joseph and his subordinates, serving them a full course of special spiritual phenomena and nightmares whenever they tried to be clever or hide their wrongdoings.

Lorentz’s decision was quick, “I need to go and assess the situation myself. As soon as today’s schedule ends... no, just cancel my entire schedule and prepare to leave for Thracus immediately.”

“R-right now? And you’re going personally, company head?”

“They’re such an unpredictable party, who knows when they’ll leave for another city!? If we let them leave with a bad impression of our company, it could cause major issues in the future. I need to step in before that happens. Now, hurry!”

***While the Halder Company was turned upside down by a single thin letter, Dorothea, who could be considered the root cause, didn’t particularly hold a grudge against the Halder Company. More precisely, she didn’t even have the perception that she had done something significant.

Some guys whose behavior she found unpleasant attacked, so, naturally, she retaliated. That was the extent of her feelings on the matter.

However, not everyone in the party was so carefree.

Specifically, Adelaide.

While the Tin Knight and Dorothea had rampaged, she had been lying on the floor, drugged. She shuddered remembering the blade that had passed over her head.

“I didn’t expect them to use something like drugs at our first meeting,” Dorothea chided her as if dumbfounded. “You were the one who readily drank the beverage given by those suspicious people selling such dubious medicine.”

“Ugh.”

Even she found it embarrassing in hindsight, so Adelaide couldn’t even argue and merely lowered her head.

Seeing her face turn red up to her earlobes, Dorothea felt it was too much to push further and changed her target, “Well, this one is naturally clueless, but why were you drinking that, too?”

Sophia answered nonchalantly, “Well, I was thirsty?”

“...Would you drink poison too if you were thirsty?”

“It doesn’t really mean much to me, anyway. I’m indifferent to pain, and things like diseases or paralysis reset after a few regenerations. I was also a bit curious. Usually, paralytic poisons like that, if the effect is too fast, those who have yet to touch the drink notice, and if it’s too slow, it loses its meaning. The idea of making them take a specific drug first, then dispersing another poison with something like smoke to combine them, wasn’t bad. But above all—“ Sophia added, “None of that really matters with Sir Tin here, no?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ puffs out his chest, saying he is quite reliable!]

“Enough, what should I even say to you?” Dorothea shook her head. “Anyway, we’ve roughly got the supplies, and we’ve ordered a carriage so we can pick it up tomorrow, next is—“

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says to start the bet quickly!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists we should find the champion quickly!]

Dorothea cleanly ignored the Tin Knight, “—Adel, you said you needed to get new equipment fitted, right? Shall we go there?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Ah, in that case, I’ll separate from here for a while. I want to investigate the martial arts tournament, the champion, and the surrounding circumstances.”

At Sophia’s words, Dorothea questioned, “I’d be comfortable if you’d do it on your own, but are you okay alone? I can lend you the tin can if needed.”

“No, I think it’s better for you two to stay together in this city. Instead, I’m planning to go with that person.”

Saying this, Sophia pointed at Hindler, who was in the corner giving himself self-suggestions like, “I didn’t hear anything, didn’t hear anything...!”

Dorothea asked briefly, “Will he be of any help, being so weak?”

“In information gathering, force is good to have, but not that important an ability. Rather, having more numbers is more useful.”

“Well, most situations can be resolved by pushing with numbers.”

Dorothea understood immediately. It was truly a necromancer-like interpretation.

Sophia picked up the all-purpose worker Hindler—Skill: Summon Backup—and left. The remaining three headed to the blacksmith to take care of Adelaide’s equipment.

Befitting its title as the City of Struggle, Thracus had quite a lot of blacksmiths and weapon shops.

It was almost comparable to the doll workshop street in Tik-Tok.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out that people are crowding only at some stores!]

“That’s right. There are many other stores nearby, but why are there long lines only at those stores?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ advises that if you don’t know something, you should ask others!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ imparts knowledge that if you ask a question while buying something at an appropriate store, they rarely coldly say they don’t know!]

“I see... but what should we buy?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests how about those skewers over there!]

Adelaide nodded.

She ordered some food at the skewer shop and, while waiting, asked about why people were crowding.

While packaging the skewers, the lady kindly answered, “Ah, that’s because of the brand.”

“The brand?”

“Look carefully at the signs of those shops. Some have a separate brand next to them, and some don’t, right?”

At the lady’s words, the three carefully examined the shop signs.

And they saw the shops where people were crowding all had a golden emblem of a winged monkey drawn on them.

Dorothea’s eyes hardened.

Gold, wings, monkey.

The combination of these three words couldn’t be that common.

“I don’t know much either, but apparently, you need alchemy skills to make good weapons? So shops sponsored by the Witch of the West, who’s a master of alchemy, are often compared to those that aren’t.”

“So, are all the crowded shops related to the Witch of the West?”

“That’s right. Here, it’s ready. Enjoy your meal.”

“Ah, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

Adelaide, who received the paper bag, casually took out a skewer and took a bite.

She showed no hesitation about eating while standing on the street.

Dorothea briefly thought whether it was okay for a noble young lady to do that, but soon dispersed that thought.

Well, compared to what they hunted and ate during camping, this was quite refined.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Miss Witch?”

“I’m fine. More importantly, what do you want to do? Do you want to line up for a skilled shop, or just enter an average shop?”

Adelaide blinked as if surprised, “Oh, is it okay to go to the Witch of the West’s shop?”

“It’s not like the witch herself is running it, so what does it matter?” Dorothea slightly pointed at the Tin Knight with her staff and continued. “Besides, if you were using just anything like this guy, it would be different, but for you, isn’t it better to have a good weapon?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ prides himself that a master doesn’t discriminate between weapons!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that he’d like to try something like an epic item if one comes out!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if there’s anything like a sword among the eight sacred treasures!]

“There isn’t, so give up. More importantly, your answer?”

At Dorothea’s question, Adelaide nodded.

As long as Dorothea didn’t mind, Adelaide also wanted to get a good weapon if possible.

“Then, assuming we’re going to a place with the brand... which one should we go to among them?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says his intuition points to that shop over there!]

“I don’t really trust that intuition of yours.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims his prophecy accuracy rate is 24%!]

“What’s with that ambiguous number?”

“Haha... We don’t have any other criteria anyway, so let’s just go where Sir Knight said.”

The party headed towards the shop the Tin Knight had chosen among the various shops marked with the golden-winged monkey emblem.

Contrary to expectations, the waiting time wasn’t that long.

All the previous customers quickly left the shop.

That in itself was a good thing, but the problem was the expressions of the customers.

Displeasure? Anger? Anyway, it wasn’t a particularly positive reaction.

“Looks flashy on the outside, but no substance. Weapons that only nobles would like.”

“The owner’s personality is eccentric. She doesn’t listen to customers’ opinions at all and just forces them to buy the equipment she recommends.”

Overhearing the customers’ complaints, Dorothea stared intently at the Tin Knight.

The Tin Knight avoided her gaze.

Adelaide smiled awkwardly, “W-well, since we’ve come this far, let’s at least go in and take a look, yes.”

As the party reached the shop’s door, a shout was heard from inside, “No, I mean! If I say I want this, what’s the problem!?”

“What’s the problem? Your judgment, intelligence, and dignity. They’re all problematic. The equipment that suits you isn’t that, but this, how many times do I have to tell you?”

“Ha, forget it! Damn, what a waste of time!”

With rough movements, a man with a bandana on his forehead rushed out of the shop.

The man, whose body was full of muscles, saw Dorothea’s party waiting in front of the door and said, “You’d better not go in there. The shop owner is a crazy woman.”

Dorothea just shrugged without answering, and the man didn’t seem to want to say anything more either, so he left.

In this subtle atmosphere, the party opened the shop door and entered.

The interior of the shop was truly flamboyant, not falling behind even compared to the exceptionally flashy exterior among the various shops.

The equipment all gleamed and boasted elegant style, and not a few items were decorated with jewels and the like.

Unlike general shops, a woman sat at the counter deep inside with a face full of discontent. Even that chair looked like a luxury item that might be found in the reception room of a noble mansion.

The woman’s attire was extremely gorgeous.

She looked like she should be at some ball rather than watching a shop in a place like this.

Her voluminous twin-tailed hair looked either blonde or silver, depending on the angle of light.

Her face was elegant, but arrogant and fierce.

A sense of déjà vu suddenly passed through the party’s minds.

When blood-red eyes directly gazed at the party, the other party seemed to feel the same emotion.

She muttered blankly, “Why are you... here?”

The disciple of the Witch of the West.

Franka Aglaia was there.