Chapter 147: The Tin Knight and The City of Scales (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147: The Tin Knight and The City of Scales (7)
“…Do you people not know the meaning of the word ‘rest’?”
That was the first thing Dorothea said when the Tin Knight returned to their lodgings and abruptly presented the necromancer's head.
Under her frigid glare, Adelaide broke into a cold sweat and avoided her eyes, even though it wasn't really her fault. Sophia simply smiled, feigning ignorance. However, her smile was a little stiffer than usual.
And the Tin Knight?
[The 'Tin Knight' says he has rescued Dorothea's compatriot and asks her to check on his condition!]
As usual, he turned Dorothea's stomach with his nonsensical drivel.
Dorothea's eyebrow twitched and shot up, but the seasoned witch, instead of flying into a rage, took a long breath to calm herself.
“Explain what happened.”
At the party leader's command, the group obediently complied.
From the commotion at the restaurant and Maris von Lennart's proposal to the subsequent trial and the Tin Knight's intervention.
For events that had transpired in just half a day, they were quite dense, but since the party's journey was generally like this, Dorothea wasn't particularly surprised. Humans are creatures of adaptation.
“Hmm, so this is it.”
Inside a room, away from prying eyes.
Dorothea began to examine the necromancer's head, which sat on the table, from all angles with an intrigued expression.
The human head, muttering nonsense while half-mad, was grotesque and bizarre enough to be straight out of a horror movie. But, just as you'd expect from a necromancer, Dorothea showed no hesitation.
“This thing… I think it's still connected.”
[The 'Tin Knight' asks what it's connected to!]
“To this man's original body.”
[The 'Tin Knight' requests a more detailed explanation!]
“How should I put this?”
Dorothea seemed to ponder for a moment, then spoke to Adel.
“Adel, you carry candy around, right? Do you have one on a stick?”
“Ah, yes. Just a moment.”
Adel rummaged through her belongings and handed over a piece of candy. Dorothea submerged half of it in a cup of water.
Dorothea flicked the head of the lollipop with her finger.
“The part of the candy outside the water is the head here, and the part in the water is the body that was taken by that scale thing. They're physically separate, but magically connected.”
Adel tilted her head, looking as if she didn't quite understand how something could be separate yet connected.
“I don't know the detailed principles or techniques myself. I'm just using an analogy to make the phenomenon easier to understand.”
Just then, Sophia stepped forward, pulled the lollipop, and lifted it out of the water.
“Then, is it possible to pull it out like this?”
“Theoretically, yes. But you'd better not. You can tell just by looking at the state of that candy, can't you?”
The bottom of the candy submerged in the water had dissolved, its surface sticky.
“You said this man's body was placed on the scale, unraveled like a spool of thread, and turned into light, right? That was probably a process of decomposition. Like a candy dissolving in water. Even if you were to boil the water and leave only the remaining candy, it wouldn't be in its original shape. No, in fact, the magical connection itself would be severed, and he'd die instantly.”
“I see.”
Dorothea waved her hand dismissively.
“So, are all your questions answered? You have no more business with it, so hurry up and throw it away. What will people think if we carry a living human head around?”
[The 'Tin Knight' condemns Dorothea's heartless personality!]
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if there's no such thing as camaraderie between professionals in the same line of work!]
“What camaraderie? There's no such thing in this business.”
At Dorothea's cold reply, the Tin Knight's shoulders slumped slightly.
At his strangely dejected appearance, Dorothea's eyes narrowed.
She was about to click her tongue and say something when it happened.
“…Help me. As for payment, I will provide it.”
The necromancer's head, which had been silent for some time, suddenly uttered those words.
The party's gazes all fell upon him.
His eyes, which had been lost in delirium, had regained a calm rationality.
As if he had finally accepted his reality, a peculiar mix of resignation and strange resolve—unique to one who has braced for the end—coexisted on his face.
His missing teeth hadn't returned, making his pronunciation a bit unstable, but he was far more intelligible than he had been during the battle.
“Help you? What, you want us to get your body back or something?” Dorothea asked nonchalantly, as if she had already noticed the necromancer's head had regained its senses.
He replied.
“I wouldn't dare hope for such a thing. Money… Yes, give me money.”
“You don't look like you need money in that state.”
“It's not for me. It's for my younger sister.”
His explanation was quite concise, as Dorothea's eyes would sharpen whenever his words started to drag on or stray.
How he'd made an enemy of a certain noble in the Locria Federation, which led to a bounty on his head and him being pursued.
How he'd heard a rumor that Justitia didn't question sins from the outside world and that any crime could be absolved with money, so he came here.
And how, after settling in the city, he had taken on several ‘requests’ to save money, sending a portion of it to his sister back home.
Adel looked a little sympathetic as she listened to the story, but the witch merely scoffed.
“If your family was so precious to you, you should have behaved yourself in the first place. I mean, who told you to go get caught digging up someone's grave?”
“…To think I'd live to hear such words from a fellow professional.”
“What are you talking about? I live my life by a certain code.”
The gazes of the other three party members flickered toward Dorothea, then furtively shifted away when it looked like the witch was about to glare daggers at them.
The man, now just a head, seemed to understand that appealing to pity wouldn't work. He continued gloomily.
“Fine, I don't think I've lived a good life either. But still, I want to leave something behind on my way out. All the wealth I've gathered has been completely fleeced by this damn city, but I still have something left.”
He stared into Dorothea's eyes.
“I may have ended up like this, but believe it or not, I'm a fairly well-known necromancer in these parts. I will pass on the magic I developed on my own, so please deliver its price to my sister.”
“Hmm.”
Dorothea seemed to consider it for a moment.
She asked the Tin Knight.
“Did you see him use anything that looked useful?”
[The 'Tin Knight' replies that he doesn't know about the other stuff, but the technique for creating bombs seemed useful!]
[The 'Tin Knight' says that if he hadn't suppressed it with his shield, dozens of people nearby would have been caught in the blast!]
“So it's a spell with strong physical force.”
Seemingly intrigued enough, Dorothea reconfirmed the terms of the deal.
“Where is your sister? It'll be a pain if she's too far away or difficult to contact.”
“You don't need to go yourselves. Just bring me a pouch with the payment and the corpse of a bird that can fly, one with no external damage.”
“Right. It's not like you've known us long enough to tell us the location of your precious family. Smart.”
Despite her words, Dorothea didn't seem particularly offended.
If anything, she seemed to think it meant less work for her.
“I'm not making a Blood Oath, so if you really can't trust me, say so now.”
“…If you don't help me, I'll just be thrown out on the street to die, unable to do anything anyway. I can only hope that you people have at least a shred of decency.”
And so, a deal was struck.
*
After the decision on how to handle the nameless necromancer (he tried to reveal his name, but Dorothea stopped him) was settled, the next topic to come up was Adelaide's story.
To accept Maris von Lennart's proposal, or not.
“I… want to do it.”
On this matter, Adel showed a surprisingly firm resolve.
“It's partly because the reward Mr. Maris offered is tempting, but aside from that, I just don't like this city very much. If you were to ask me what the problem is specifically, I'm not confident I could answer… but at the very least, I would hate it if the Friedel domain became like this.”
If Maris's plan succeeded, the Kingdom of Heaven aside, the lord's reputation would at least be severely tarnished.
Wanting to participate in the plan, if only to land a blow on him, her violet eyes sparkled and burned with motivation.
Dorothea sighed, then turned her gaze to the Tin Knight and Sophia.
“So, what about you guys?”
[The 'Tin Knight' says he wants to have a go at the lord!]
“Don't be ridiculous. That Maris guy, or whatever his name is, can only plot something like this because he has the power of the Lennart family behind him. If mere adventurers like us were to take off the lord's head, we wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath.”
[The 'Tin Knight' expresses confusion, saying he didn't specifically say anything about taking off his head!]
“……Anyway!”
Clearing her throat, Dorothea looked at Sophia.
“You?”
“Originally, I was just planning to read some books and then leave, but seeing how this city is run, there is one thing I'd like to do.”
“Something you want to do? It's not anything outrageous, is it?”
“Of course not. I simply wish to have a little chat with the lord. Mainly, about that scale.”
“You want to have a debate with him or something? I guess that's just like you.”
“Should I refrain?”
“Well, I suppose just exchanging a few words won't hurt.”
After lamenting quietly to herself, ‘So much for a three-day rest,’ Dorothea issued her orders to the party.
“Adel, you go to that duchess and find out the specific schedule and plan. You'll probably have to slip out of the city and escape right after it's carried out, so we need to prepare for that in advance.”
“Yes!”
“Sophia. I don't care if you talk to the lord, but don't reveal anything about your holy power. It's well-known that the Kingdom of Heaven 'collects' users of holy power. Sure, they say they respect the individual's wishes and all that, but there's no need to stir up trouble for no reason.”
“Yes. I'll be careful.”
“Tin Can. You go with Sophia as her guard. If you start a fight for no reason, I swear I won't let it slide.”
[The 'Tin Knight' insists that he is a lover of peace!]
“You're full of shit.”