Chapter 183: The Tin Knight and The World Inside The Library (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 183: The Tin Knight and The World Inside The Library (3)
“I don't really have a use for this normally, so I might as well use it now.”
At Dorothea’s words, Adelaide asked with a hint of anxiety.
“Uh, are we sure about this? What if something goes wrong….”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ agrees, saying that the third option is always the most fun!]
“I am quite curious to see how this plays out. I agree as well.”
“…I'll just agree, too.”
Having reached a unanimous decision at the cost of the little lion’s quick resignation, the party lightly ignored the box and drinks on the table and opened the door with the Key of Opium.
Just then, a voice echoed from the empty air.
《—You opened the door with the key you possessed. The key fit perfectly, as if it had always been one with the lock.》
“Did that voice just stutter a little?”
“Perhaps it took a little longer to process an unanticipated choice?”
Beyond the door was a massive hallway.
It was so wide that several carriages could run side-by-side, and its height was dizzying.
The door they had just come through felt like a tiny back entrance in comparison.
“Left or right, which way should we go?”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that in situations like this, left is the standard choice!]
“Seriously, where does that baseless confidence come from?”
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble.
“Hey, do you hear that strange noise?”
As Adelaide’s gaze turned toward the far end of the hallway, the rest of the party turned their heads in the same direction.
And they saw it.
A tremendous torrent of water, rushing toward them from the other end of the hall.
The two martial artists in the group made a swift judgment.
Adelaide immediately tried to open the door they had just come through, while the Tin Knight prepared to throw the others back through it.
Clank! Rattle, rattle, rattle!
But the door that had opened so easily before was now shut tight, refusing to budge.
Considering that Adelaide, who possessed the Belt of Amaryllis, could easily crush an iron ingot in her grip, the door’s durability was bizarre.
Dorothea tried to open the door with the Key of Opium once more, but the torrent engulfed them before she could.
After being swept away by the water for a moment, the Tin Knight shouted.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says to grab onto him!]
Sophia and Dorothea were already holding onto the Tin Knight’s hands, so only Adelaide needed to answer the call.
As the little lion managed to grab the Tin Knight’s leg amidst the torrent, the knight began to blast mana downward.
His body, which had been near the floor, rose toward the surface of the water.
Fwoosh!
Clinging to the Tin Knight, who had become an impromptu surfboard—or an armor-plated raft—Adelaide was the first to balance herself and climb on top.
She then grabbed the other two by the hand and pulled them up, creating a scene of the three party members riding side-by-side aboard the S.S. Tin Knight.
Dorothea grumbled in annoyance as she channeled mana into the Tin Knight.
“What is this now?! First the hole suddenly gets bigger, and now we get hit by a flood!?”
“Um, Miss Dorothea?”
“What!”
“I understand how you feel, but I don't think it's over yet.”
“What?”
Dorothea followed Sophia’s gaze and looked to the side.
There, a giant, human-sized mouse was paddling through the water, swimming alongside them.
The voice from the sky spoke again.
《You opened the door and entered the hallway, only to be swept away by a sudden torrent.》
《Having managed to float to the surface, you discovered a giant mouse swimming beside you.》
《The mouse does not seem to have noticed you yet.》
BOOOOOM!
《You can either speak to the mouse, or you can conceal your presence so that it doesn't notice y—》
The voice cut off abruptly.
Adelaide and Sophia’s gazes shifted between the mouse sinking amidst a huge explosion and Dorothea, who was in a throwing stance.
Dorothea stored the grenade—no, the corpse bomb she had learned about from Shylock—that she hadn't had time to throw back into her Gloves of Haider, then met their gazes.
“What? What is it?”
The Tin Knight couldn't fight properly, and the flowing water made for unstable footing for Adelaide to fight on. Her attitude suggested it was only natural to neutralize an obviously dangerous creature on sight.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ praises Dorothea’s judgment!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that a preemptive strike is crucial in a fight!]
“Right?”
The conversation between the witch on top and the Tin Knight acting as her boat was truly amicable.
The saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’ popped into Adelaide’s head, but she quickly erased the thought, fearing she’d get an earful if caught.
In truth, she was in no position to talk. The Tin contamination was just that severe.
After a slight delay, the voice from the air continued.
《—After brutally slaughtering the mouse, you proceeded as the current led you.》
《After traveling for some time, the water that had been deep enough to swim in gradually receded until your feet could touch the bottom.》
《As you stepped out of the puddle, a bizarre scene met your eyes.》
《Lovebirds, freshwater crabs, beavers, and various other birds and animals were gathered in one place, shivering.》
《Strangely, you could understand the language they spoke, and it seemed they were looking for a way to dry their wet bodies.》
《A giant lovebird approached and spoke to you.》
《“Have you seen a mouse by any chance? He’s the most respected among us, and without him to organize things, our discussion is going nowhere.”》
《You can either confess to your crime or pretend you know nothing.》
“Hasn't it gotten a lot chattier?”
“Well, perhaps it's trying its best to piece the story back together?”
The lovebird spoke.
“Did you not hear my question? I asked if you've seen the mouse.”
The other animals chimed in.
“Doesn't something smell strange?”
“You're right, I think I smell blood!”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ raises a valid question: aren't these guys just giving you a hard time, knowing full well what happened to the mouse!]
In response to the animals’ interrogation, Dorothea answered.
“The mouse? It's right over there.”
“What are you talking about? Where could the mouse possibly b— uh, um.”
The lovebird, which had been about to scoff as if to say ‘nonsense,’ stuttered, at a loss for words, as it looked in the direction Dorothea was pointing.
Toward the lovebird and the other animals, the mouse approached and spoke.
“Hello, friends. I have arrived.”
Its tone was strangely stiff and lifeless. Its eyes, too, were dull and dead.
The lovebird replied in a fluster.
“Oh, y-yes, Mouse. You're safe.”
“Yes. I'm safe.”
“We're trying to find a way to dry ourselves. You must be wet too, so let's hurry and find a good way, shall we?”
The lovebird’s eyes scanned the mouse’s body. There was something odd about its appearance.
“…Why aren't you wet?”
At the lovebird’s question, the mouse replied.
“What do you mean? I'm completely soaked.”
As it spoke, the mouse lifted its forepaw.
Its gray fur was certainly damp with water.
But the area above that—roughly from its shoulders to its head—was perfectly dry. As if that part alone had been newly created.
The eyes of the lovebird and the other animals trembled strangely, but the mouse remained impassive.
“Now, let's go. You said you were looking for a way to dry off, right? I'll tell you a good method. If you listen to my dry, humorless story, your coats will surely dry as well.”
The mouse grabbed the lovebird’s wing and went over to the other animals, then began a long speech with a mask-like, expressionless face and a flat, monotonous voice.
The animals listened, their faces somehow even paler than before. They seemed to be feeling a chill that had nothing to do with being wet.
Watching the animals experiencing a real-time horror show with pity, Adelaide spoke.
“Is... that going to be okay?”
“It's not proper necromancy. It has a soul, but something about it feels off. It’s like they just stuffed a bunch of information into a balloon to mimic the real thing. It doesn't seem like a new life was created from scratch, like the Witch of the West would do.”
No, that's not what I was asking about.
Adelaide’s simple protest died down as soon as Dorothea took a special carriage out of her Gloves of Haider.
She, too, had been feeling uncomfortable with the dampness.
The party dried themselves and even changed their clothes inside the carriage, which was practically a mobile base, before stowing it away again.
When the now-pristine party emerged, they found the animals had created a sort of circular track and were running laps.
Dorothea, now back in her black witch attire, asked the Tin Knight, who had been observing the situation outside.
“What are they doing now?”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says it looks like they’re trying to dry themselves by running!]
“Hmm.”
Just as Dorothea hummed lightly, the dodo and the mouse, who were sprinting around and around the same course, lightly bumped into each other.
In that instant, the mouse’s body popped like a balloon and collapsed.
“Hmph. Just as I thought, patching it up with only mana and no other materials doesn't last long.”
A great commotion broke out among the animals.
A scene unfolded where the lovebird screamed, the freshwater crab yelled, “It’s a mousicide!” and the dodo pleaded, “No! I’m innocent!” but Dorothea looked away, uninterested.
“So, what's next?”
《—You presented the resurrected mouse to the animals, who, despite their bewilderment, associated with it. However, when the mouse reverted to its original state, great screams and chaos erupted among them.》
The voice seemed to be trembling with suppressed rage.