Chapter 17: The Tin Knight and The City of Pleasure (11)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: The Tin Knight and The City of Pleasure (11)
Turning back the hands of the clock to a time when the auction house was abuzz with feverish excitement.
The girl who had escaped her cage was walking through the building, following the bone mouse.
Click-clack.
The bone mouse was a skillful guide.
It expertly found routes devoid of people and would quickly warn her whenever it sensed someone approaching.
A question suddenly occurred to the girl.
‘…By the way, how can it see or smell properly when it’s nothing but bones?’
Click-clack?
As if sensing the girl's curious gaze, the bone mouse tilted its head.
For a creature of mere bone, its movements were unnecessarily full of life.
The girl shook her head.
Then again, if she started questioning such things, the fact that a creature made of only bones was moving around so casually was the real issue to begin with.
Click-clack!
At the bone mouse's warning, the girl quickly hid in a nearby shadow.
A moment later, she heard voices nearby.
“Damn it, I can't see a thing. What the hell was that purple smoke anyway?”
“Beats me. Some bastard was probably trying to cook a midnight snack.”
“Eating something that gives off that kind of smoke sounds like a one-way ticket to the afterlife.”
“Not my problem. They said nothing's missing, so let's just wrap up the search here.”
Overhearing the staff, the girl felt a sense of confusion.
Nothing missing? Since she herself was here, that couldn't possibly be true.
‘And now that I think about it, it was strange that I was left all alone in the waiting room.’
The girl pondered this, but no answer came to mind.
As the presence of the staff faded, the bone mouse once again took the lead and guided her.
And at last, the outside world greeted the girl.
“Gasp.”
The girl desperately suppressed the gasp that had almost escaped her.
Even though she had succeeded in getting out of the building, she couldn't say she was completely out of danger yet.
Carefully, cautiously, avoiding prying eyes. Into a dark alley.
Huh, isn't this path a little strange?
Just as the girl was beginning to feel wary and suspicious, wondering if this was really the right way, the bone mouse darted off somewhere.
As she hurriedly chased after the bone mouse, a familiar face came into view.
The girl's eyes widened.
“Ronnie?”
“My lady! I am so sorry for being late. Are you hurt anywhere…”
Ronnie couldn't finish her sentence.
Because the girl had run into her arms and was hugging her with all her might.
Startled by the sudden embrace, Ronnie looked flustered for a moment, but noticing the girl's trembling body, she gently patted her back.
“It's all right. You're going to be all right now.”
In a dark alley, devoid of any glamour, the victims of the City of Pleasure soothed each other's wounds.
*
Watching Ronnie embrace the golden-haired, violet-eyed girl, you recalled Dorothea's words.
「Ronnie. Take the pebble I gave you and hide somewhere inconspicuous near the auction house. Your master will find her way to you. You might need to use force, so take this guy with you. And you, hmm, just help out. When you're done, come to where the carriage is.」
You felt a mix of complicated emotions.
The girl's safe return was a good thing.
Between a sad ending and a happy ending, you were firmly on the side of happy endings.
However, her returning alone without a single pursuer was not such a good thing.
Why not? Because it meant you couldn't block the pursuers chasing the girl and deliver the classic line, “Leave this to me and go!”
The fact that you couldn't speak was of little importance.
Your back would look cool, anyway.
Had Ronnie and the girl, currently in the middle of their emotional reunion, known your inner thoughts, they would have stared at you with cold eyes, thinking, ‘What is this crazy bastard?’ But they did not know the truth.
It was another moment that proved silence is a virtue.
“Um, who is this…?”
“He is the knight who helped rescue you, my lady. I will explain in detail once we've moved to a safe place, so for now, please trust me.”
As you were glancing around, wondering if there were any belated pursuers, assassins, or hunting dogs, you turned your attention to the conversation behind you.
Perhaps because she had safely reunited with her ‘lady,’ Ronnie's expression was incredibly bright, and the girl, aside from slightly swollen eyes, was also in good condition overall.
Perhaps thinking that the packaging needed to be good to sell her for a high price, they had dressed her in such luxurious clothes that one glance was enough to make it painfully obvious she was the young lady of some noble house.
Ronnie, realizing this as well, took out a robe she had prepared and wrapped it around the girl.
After confirming the girl was completely hidden, you drew your sword and began to walk ahead.
“Huh? What are you lookin' a— Eek!”
Since you were moving exclusively through dark alleys, you occasionally ran into unsavory-looking gangs, but they were too busy running away the moment they saw you.
You, who had been secretly hoping for a special combat encounter during this escort mission, were disappointed.
They ran away instead of picking a fight even after making eye contact; they had less guts than bug-catching kids.
And so, arriving at your destination without any particular trouble, you found Dorothea already sitting in the driver's seat of the carriage.
[The 'Tin Knight' declares the rescue mission a success!]
Dorothea shrugged.
“It's only a success once we're out of this city. Save the hot air for later and just drive the carriage.”
After saying that to you, Dorothea turned her gaze to the other two.
“You two, in the cargo bed. I've prepared clothes, so don't forget to change. As for the young lady, keep your eyes closed when we pass the checkpoint. If anyone asks why, insist that you're blind.”
It was a one-sided notice, or rather, a command.
Unlike Ronnie, who was already used to Dorothea's way of speaking, the girl looked flustered, but Ronnie soothed her and they climbed into the cargo bed together.
Sitting in the driver's seat, you asked Dorothea.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if you got the item you wanted!]
Dorothea pulled something from her waist and showed it to you.
It was a key made of a pitch-black stone that held a strange luster.
“‘The Key of Opium.’ It's a master key that can open any lock. It's also one of the eight treasures held by the kingdom in its heyday.”
A simple yet powerful ability.
[The 'Tin Knight' deduces that it must have been incredibly expensive!]
“I probably got it relatively cheap compared to its actual value. That's because while it's convenient, it's an awkward item for the rich and powerful to actually use.”
Whether it's a safe in their house or the lock on a door, the original owner naturally has the key to open it. So they don't need a master key.
You might argue that it's worth the price just for the convenience of carrying one key instead of many, but the rich and powerful rarely manage or carry such things themselves.
So they don't feel much inconvenience. The only ones inconvenienced are the servants who have to attend to them.
To make proper use of a master key, you have to use it to open locks that don't belong to you, which is usually called theft.
You could also use it to open treasure chests hidden in ruins, but how often would the rich and powerful ever go to such places?
Of course, it had value as a collector's item, and if you put your mind to it, there were other ways to use it, so there were a fair number of potential buyers, but their enthusiasm wasn't that great.
It wasn't a level of competition that Dorothea, who possessed a large number of gold coins 'donated' (?) by the wicked bandit Colombo, couldn't overcome.
[The 'Tin Knight' claims that for clearing the first objective, it feels anticlimactic!]
“What? Isn't clashing with a major bandit group several times enough for you?”
[The 'Tin Knight' insists that instead of such small fry, you have to cut off the head of the city's ruler to make it worthwhile!]
“You're talking like a maniac. Isn't it good that things ended peacefully? Why is your way of thinking so bloodthirsty?”
While you and Dorothea bickered, the carriage proceeded smoothly and finally reached the city gate.
“Halt! We'll be conducting a brief inspection!”
The atmosphere at the checkpoint was extremely chaotic.
The soldiers all looked as if they were being chased by something, and they also seemed to be severely short-staffed.
“May we check the cargo bed?”
Perhaps because it was a time with many noble visitors arriving for the auction, the gatekeeper's tone was exceptionally polite. Dorothea nodded obediently.
The inspection was swift.
There was no complicated search of the luggage; all they did was give the inside of the cargo bed a quick glance.
“Yes, you may pass. Next carriage! Please wait!”
Leaving only a perfunctory farewell, the gatekeeper quickly moved on to the next carriage.
He looked incredibly busy.
And just like that, the carriage you were in was able to exit the city safely.
[The 'Tin Knight' expresses confusion, saying that felt very half-hearted!]
After confirming there were no listening ears nearby, Dorothea spoke.
“It can't be helped. They're preoccupied with catching the Colombo bandits right now.”
[The 'Tin Knight' demands a detailed explanation!]
“I controlled the bandit group by turning their leader and his close aides into undead, but that was just a temporary measure. Their true nature would be discovered soon enough. The remaining bandits would go on a rampage again. There's no guarantee some of them wouldn't come after us with a grudge. Even if not, since they've robbed the domain once, they could do it again. So I used this opportunity to clean them up.”
Within Albert, the lord's power and authority are absolute.
If I use Colombo's undead to attack the lord, his fury will be directed at the entire bandit group.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if that's all, wouldn't it have been better to do it after you had safely escaped!]
“I can't perform detailed control if I'm too far from the undead. I had to start it while I was still in the city.”
[The 'Tin Knight' argues that the city gates could have been closed because of that!]
“Normally, yes. But they can't do that right now. Not with all the nobles who've flocked here for the auction. At most, they'd just check for carriages hiding a bunch of men. And even if the inspection had been strict, blonde hair is common, so all we had to do was hide her violet eyes.”
You were impressed by how smoothly Dorothea answered your questions.
Thinking about it calmly, there were a few holes here and there, but for a single individual to screw over both a vicious bandit group and the lord of a major city at the same time was quite an achievement.
You gave Dorothea a thumbs-up.
[The 'Tin Knight' praises her, saying it was a wicked and vicious scheme worthy of a female executive in a real villain organization!]
Clang!
The staff Dorothea swung struck you squarely on the head.
*
“Hmph.”
After punishing her impertinent familiar for his remark, Dorothea wore a sullen expression.
For Dorothea, who took her notoriously infamous teacher as a cautionary tale, remarks like ‘you're like a villain’ or ‘that's wicked’ were landmines.
This was also why Dorothea, whose teacher was the powerful necromancer known as the 'Wicked Witch of the East,' tried to avoid using magic that would make others recoil in horror.
‘It's not like I raised an army of the undead to wipe out the city like my teacher would, or spread a plague, or cursed them into a state of neither living nor dead. I just instigated a little fight among bandits, and he calls me vicious and what not… that's too harsh.’
…Well, there were often cases where what Dorothea herself considered ‘tame enough’ was seen as quite villainous by others, but that could only be blamed on her poor upbringing.
Crossing her legs and resting her chin on one hand, Dorothea fell into thought.
She had safely obtained the first treasure, annihilated the hostile bandit group to eliminate future trouble, and even seen a decent financial profit.
After some time, the lord would be furious when the fake ‘young lady’ disappeared, but there would be no evidence to suggest Dorothea was the culprit.
Even if he were to hold a grudge based on suspicion alone, as long as she didn't openly return to Albert City, there was almost no real threat.
On top of that, she still hadn't received her payment for rescuing the ‘young lady.’
The domain's situation seemed a bit precarious, but as the saying goes, a rich family has wealth for three generations even after ruin, so she could reasonably expect a reward.
Surely they wouldn't just feign ignorance after she saved the family's only heir.
Dorothea's prediction was a reasonable one.
“—The Friedel domain will henceforth be managed by our main family. We cannot trust an heir who was captured by mere bandits and nearly sold off.”
At least, it was, until the ‘heir of Friedel’ became the ‘former heir, now left out in the cold.’