Chapter 173: The Tin Knight and the Witch's Meeting
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 173: The Tin Knight and the Witch's Meeting
After the battle with Cap'n Bill's crew, Dorothea had to rest for the remainder of the voyage.
Her wounds themselves had healed quickly thanks to Sophia, but even holy power couldn't create the blood she had lost.
Lying in her bed in the ship's cabin, Dorothea spoke.
“That Cap'n Bill fellow, or whatever his name is... no, his ship and his crew. This probably isn't the end of it.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses his agreement, saying he thinks so too!]
Adelaide’s eyes widened.
“Even after the Knight thrashed them so thoroughly?”
“The physical damage isn't what's important. It's the 'cannot die' curse they're under. Unless we do something about the curse itself, they'll probably just revive and come at us again and again. The problem is…”
Dorothea closed her eyes for a moment and steadied her breathing as a wave of dizziness washed over her, but she soon continued.
“…right now, there's no obvious way to break that curse. I tried to analyze it a few times while we were fighting, but it's on a whole other level. I'm not even sure if it's magic to begin with.”
If anything, it resembled the power of the 'dwarves' she'd seen in the tower, she added.
Though she hadn't received her graduation certificate from the Witch of the East, Dorothea was still a mage who ranked among the top tiers on the entire continent.
And yet, here was that same Dorothea, throwing up her hands when it came to curses—a field that was supposed to be a necromancer's specialty.
Adel spoke.
“So, is there no way to deal with them?”
“They might not care about minor injuries, but if we smash them to bits physically like we did this time, it should take them a while to revive. Or, we could neutralize them 'without killing them' and seal them away somewhere. That's another option.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests impaling them on something like a skewer!]
“If those idiots are foolish enough to attack us on land, that could work.”
Dorothea shrugged.
“Well, we only struggled this time because the battlefield was the sea. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so tricky. There are a few other places in the Magic State where they might have an advantage, but we can just avoid those areas if possible.”
“I suppose so.”
While nodding in agreement, Adelaide glanced over at the Tin Knight.
Normally, this would be the moment the Tin Knight would interject, declaring that avoiding a fight was absurd.
‘Huh?’
But for some reason, the Tin Knight remained silent.
His gaze was fixed on Dorothea.
‘Ah, it's because the witch got hurt during the fight this time.’
It wasn't that Dorothea had never been injured before, but this time was somewhat different.
It was an injury she'd sustained while helping the Tin Knight in a situation he couldn't resolve on his own.
Realizing at once why her master was silent, Adel felt a strange emotion stir within her.
But since she couldn't quite explain what that feeling was, the little lion could only tilt her head in confusion.
Clap!
Just then, as if to change the subject, Sophia lightly clapped her hands together.
“By the way, what are we going to do about the pirates?”
“What do you mean? Didn't I just say?”
“No, not them. The ones who fought with us. They're waiting outside right now.”
“Ah,” Dorothea said, her mouth falling open in realization. Her reaction suggested she had all but forgotten they even existed.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says why not just turn them all into experience points!]
“Sir Knight, I know, but they did fight on our side. That's a bit...”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says they're just sea-adapted humanoid monsters instead of land-adapted ones!]
“Umm.”
Adelaide looked to Dorothea, as if asking for help.
Though Adel could be relatively ruthless when dealing with bandits, she was still, without a doubt, the softest-hearted member of the group.
Dorothea spoke as if it were no big deal.
“Well, they did help tie up the enemy, so I suppose we can cut them some slack. Why don't we just hand them over to the local city guard after we make landfall?”
In that case, they would most likely be thrown in prison, or if they were unlucky, lose their heads, but the party didn't need to concern themselves with that.
In truth, they had only become a comical sideshow after getting scared and trying to flee at the sight of the undead sailors before the fight even began. Looking at it coolly, they were still people who had attacked the party's ship with the intent to plunder it. Letting them have a trial was, in its own way, a great mercy.
Adel had only opposed the idea of slaughtering them without a second thought; she agreed they needed to pay for their crimes, so she readily accepted.
“What? You're handing us over to the guards?”
“Captain! How can you abandon your comrades-in-arms!”
“Dammit, you think we'll just take this lying down!?”
“Is that so? The other options were to chop all your heads off, use you as sparring partners for Miss Rapunzel's martial arts practice, or throw you into the sea and leave you to your luck. Perhaps you'd prefer one of those.”
“Please, just hand us over to the guards!!”
There was a brief, minor protest from the pirates, but after hearing the ‘options’ Sophia listed, they all fell silent and agreed to be taken to the city guard.
As an aside, all the options Sophia mentioned had been suggested by the Tin Knight.
And so, the situation was settled.
*
In the eastern part of the continent, in the Kingdom of Ionia, there is a strange rumor.
It was a rumor of a castle, so ancient that no one knew when it was built, that existed deep in a forest near the royal capital, a place where few people tread.
Of course, most people didn't take the rumor very seriously.
Even those who tried to seriously verify its truth would recoil in disgust and erase any curiosity once they learned the source of the rumor.
For that place was the cursed forest.
It was a place they had been told time and again, from their grandfather's grandfather's grandfather, never to approach.
If you build a house with its wood, misfortune will befall the residents. If you taste its fruit, you will fall ill. If you breathe its air, tragedy will strike your family.
Due to all sorts of horrific rumors, it was a place that even the most renowned hunters and foresters dared not approach.
No one would venture near, save for those who knew nothing of the rumors, or bandits whose greed was so great it eclipsed their fear.
“—She was a cunning brat. She must have predicted that by saying such things, her people would never dare set foot here. The one who spread the rumors is long dead, and even her descendants have forgotten the past, yet the fear alone still wanders the world.”
A lone shadow was walking through that cursed forest.
Her steps held no fear, suggesting she was no ignorant soul who had lost her way, nor any haste, suggesting she was not seeking the treasures of a forgotten castle.
She was a woman of strange appearance.
The clothes she wore didn't fit, causing one shoulder to be half-exposed, and it was obvious at a glance that she had thrown them on carelessly.
Her long hair hung down in a disheveled mess, and her face was covered by a bizarre mask, made from the bone of some unidentifiable animal.
But what was most bizarre was the play of light and shadow on her.
A person's appearance is naturally shaded or brightened depending on the angle of the light, but the shading on the woman remained constant, no matter where or how one looked. It was as if light itself failed to function properly in her vicinity.
The forest was silent.
Not even the cry of a beast, the buzz of an insect's wings, or the rustle of leaves in the wind could be heard.
It was as if the forest feared disturbing the woman's mood, or perhaps, as if it were showing her the utmost reverence.
Paying these miracles no mind, the woman continued on.
She walked through the forest, through the halls of the castle within, and down its hidden stairs.
And so, the woman arrived at a storeroom.
Rising dust. Rustling books. Rusted equipment.
And an empty space where someone had once been.
Without a word, the woman swept her hand across a spot that was slightly less dusty than the rest.
From that simple act, she could detect the traces of an immense amount of mana that had been moved here.
It was only natural.
No matter what kind of restoration function it had, recovering something that had been neglected to the point where ninety-nine of its one hundred pieces were on the verge of being discarded could not have been an easy task.
It would have been impossible without either draining the ley lines of the entire Ionian capital, borrowing the power of one of the four magic towers that governed the continent's northern regions, or... unless her foolish apprentice had stepped in.
A deep breath escaped the woman's lips—yes, the lips of the Witch of the East. It was something between a sigh of lament and one of relief.
After staring silently at the spot where the Tin Knight had been, the woman turned and walked out of the castle.
Outside the once-empty castle gate, a strange visitor had arrived.
She was a girl as white as snow, as if she had stepped right out of a fairy tale.
The girl, Algind, offered a greeting.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Great Witch of the East. My name is Algind Goodwitch. I am a student of the Witch of the South, my master.”
“...”
The Witch of the East did not reply. She merely revealed a bored gaze from behind her mask.
As if she had expected this reaction, Algind continued to speak calmly.
“My master wishes to have a meeting with you. She says there is an important matter to discuss that will decide the future of this continent. If you would be so kind as to inform us of your schedule, we will do our utmost to accommodate you without any inconvenience.”
“Enough with the games. Spit out whatever business you have, or I'm leaving.”
“Hmm.”
Algind hesitated for a moment, looking troubled, but her expression remained unchanged.
Then, she shrugged and spoke nonchalantly.
“—I know that your apprentice recently encountered them. You must have received the news as well. So, would you please just wait quietly?”
Kiiik—space itself seemed to creak.
The land around the Witch of the East lost its vitality and withered, the green leaves instantly turned brittle as autumn foliage and crumbled to dust, and the stench of the grave flowed from the empty air.
It wasn't that she had used any magic or handled any tool.
The Witch of the East's mood had simply soured ever so slightly.
And that alone was enough for the surrounding area to be unable to bear it, and begin to die.
“Oh, my.”
Seeing a part of her sleeve turn a murky black and fall away, Algind blinked a few times.
The Witch of the East spoke.
“State your reason.”
“Because if you start a brawl with them now, it will be playing right into the hands of the heavens.”
“How absurd.”
Splat.
Without any warning, a large, dark bruise bloomed on Algind's forearm. It looked as if an invisible giant had gripped her there.
“You are a crucial asset. This land you occupy is one that neither the underground nor the heavens can touch carelessly. Conversely, if you begin to fight the ones from the underground in earnest, the heavens will gain a great advantage. An absurdly large payoff for the price of tossing a few toys onto the surface.”
“And the one who's so reluctant to do that is the same one who struck down that idiot in the West?”
“Elphaba was dealing with the heavens. Eliminating a spy is only natural. Besides, she was the type who wouldn't care if this land burned, as long as her own world was safe. There is no reason to keep someone alive who offers no help and only benefits the enemy.”
“If you had done it with your own power alone, I might have acknowledged it, but your methods are quite childish.”
Algind's condition was deteriorating rapidly.
As if someone were strangling her, the marks of a handprint appeared vividly on her shoulder and neck.
And yet, her expression remained as impassive as a doll's.
“I want to strike the heavens, even if it means borrowing the power of the underground. You cannot stand to see the underground run rampant, even if it means being used by the heavens. But for both of us, the final conclusion is the same.”
“And what is that?”
“—That both sides are goddamn trash who are of no help to this land whatsoever. We're going to clean them both up in the end, so shut up and help.”
It was a coarse statement, a world away from the elegant speech Algind had used until now.
But the Witch of the East, contrary to expectations, seemed to like it.
The terrible curse and malevolent energy that had been pressing down on the area vanished as if washed away.
“Fine. I'll watch and see for a while. To be honest, I wasn't keen on cleaning up after my grown-up apprentice's messes anyway, so this works out.”
“Cough. Then it would have been much easier if you'd been agreeable from the start.”
Stroking her neck, where the marks were still vivid, Algind protested quietly.
Naturally, the Witch of the East didn't even pretend to care.
“If you don't like it, then cut the games next time, Goodwitch.”
“I don't know what you mean, but I will pass the message along to my master. I will send someone to escort you at a later date, so I hope you will treat them kindly then. Not everyone can endure as I can.”
After saying this, Algind gestured to the air, and a masked figure flew in from a distance.
The figure saw Algind's tattered state and showed killing intent toward the Witch of the East, but when Algind stopped him, he reluctantly lifted her into his arms.
As Algind was about to leave, the Witch of the East asked her a question.
“You said you got rid of the one in the West because she was in the way. So, what do you plan to do about that one in the North?”
Algind answered simply.
“—That will depend on which of us is left standing.”