Chapter 199: The Tin Knight and The Crossroads of Swords and Magic (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 199: The Tin Knight and The Crossroads of Swords and Magic (9)
The Magic State claimed the Empire had joined forces with bandits to invade them.
The Empire claimed the Magic State had harbored the bandits and, in turn, annihilated the subjugation force.
A single incident.
But two entirely different stories.
The greater the uproar, the faster the discord between the Empire and the Magic State would grow, and neither side could afford to simply bow their head.
Therefore, the most rational solution to prevent a war was to cover up the incident itself.
"What do I know? I know plenty about your father's death! The poor knight who fought his best for the family, only to have his death covered up by the family head himself!"
"─Guardian Lord. It was because Duke Lennart ordered this incident to be handled quietly."
Adelaide felt a throbbing headache.
While her head understood it was the fastest way to prevent a war, her heart could not accept the deaths of her father and the Friedel soldiers being swept under the rug, the incident itself fading into obscurity without any proper investigation.
The fact that she didn't know how much of either person's story to believe only added to Adelaide's confusion.
As if to support the speechless Adelaide, Dorothea asked.
“Wait, you said the Duke issued a gag order?”
“I didn't receive the order from the Duke's own mouth, but the official document I received was in his name.”
“You talk like some kind of bureaucrat with all these word games. More importantly, who's this kid you said was spouting all this in the middle of the street? Is the Duke's order actually not that big of a deal?”
“Of course not.”
Norman denied it as if the thought was absurd.
“The position of representative instructor of the Lennart dojos is often considered equivalent to an Imperial countship, but even I would have to step down immediately at a single word from him. That's how powerful the family head's authority is. However… the young lady you met is an exception in many ways. She is the last daughter of His Excellency the Duke's late older brother.”
The legitimacy of being the daughter of the current head's deceased older brother—the firstborn son, at that.
The blatant protection of the Council of Elders, which maintained a subtle rivalry with the family head.
And a talent so prodigious she was considered the likely candidate for the strongest of the next generation of the Lennart family.
Norman explained that with three such factors, any one of which would make her difficult to handle, she had the power to get away with almost any trouble she caused.
Norman’s detailed explanation continued after that.
He told them how the current Duke, the third son, and the firstborn son had fiercely competed to be the next family head, but the current Duke was chosen because the firstborn had no children.
How less than half a year after the succession was settled, the firstborn and his wife had a daughter, and the firstborn used this as a pretext to demand a rematch.
A rematch was somehow arranged, but the firstborn died of unnatural causes during the preparation period, causing a huge uproar within the ducal family. As a result, the girl's very existence became a 'counter pick' that was difficult for the Duke to touch.
These were details that would become a scandal for the Lennart Ducal House if they ever leaked. For him to speak of them himself must have carried a significant risk, yet Norman remained impassive.
It was impossible to know if this stemmed from sympathy or goodwill toward Adelaide, or from his animosity toward Hilda.
However, as for how effective Norman's risk-taking explanation was on the party…
[The 'Tin Knight' exclaims "Aha!" as if he understands everything!]
[The 'Tin Knight' rambles on about how it's basically just a typical Crusader Kings family!]
…something like that. It wasn't a great success.
Then again, it was at least somewhat worthwhile just for placating the murderous intent of a certain black witch who had been picking petals off a death-flower, muttering, "He knew about all that and still sent Adelaide to the magic tower? Should I kill him? Should I not?"
*
After finishing their conversation and leaving the dojo, Dorothea asked Adelaide.
“So, what now?”
“…I don't know,” Adelaide said, her voice dejected.
“Everyone's story is different, so I don't know what's fact and what's truth. I don't know who to blame, who to confront, or even what I should do first.”
The only connection Adelaide had to the main family was Maris, and she was Duke Lennart's daughter.
She would naturally spin the story in the Duke's favor, and even if Maris were to sincerely help Adelaide, there was no guarantee that she herself didn't possess a distorted version of the truth.
The vagueness and hopelessness of it all, like having to find 'something' of an unknown shape on a vast, sandy beach, was draining Adelaide of her strength.
[The 'Tin Knight' says that when you can't trust what others say, the best thing to do is to go and see for yourself!]
[The 'Tin Knight' encourages his pupil, saying that the quest route is perfectly laid out for it anyway!]
And with that, the Tin Knight slapped his pupil's back with a thump, thump.
Considering the Tin Knight's body was a lump of iron, it was a rather dangerous act, but since Adelaide's body was also far from ordinary, it more or less balanced out.
“Go and see for myself?”
[The 'Tin Knight' says they should go to the place where the incident occurred!]
“But the incident is already over. Are you suggesting we ask the nearby villagers?”
In response to Adelaide's question, the Tin Knight shook his head.
Then, without a word, he pointed a finger at Dorothea.
[The 'Tin Knight' says that while the living may be silent, the dead have much to say!]
Next, he pointed to Sophia.
[The 'Tin Knight' says there's no more certain method of confirmation than seeing the past for yourself!]
“…Ah.”
Adelaide's mouth fell open blankly.
That was right. The process of approaching countless people, building trust, gathering information, and verifying its authenticity.
Such 'by-the-book information gathering' was unnecessary for their party.
After all, their methods were closer to those of a villain party than a hero party to begin with.
Dorothea and Sophia also reacted positively.
“Well, the Tower of Control is next on our route anyway. We can just stop by on the way.”
“I used my power a lot at the Tower of Foresight, so I feel like my proficiency has increased quite a bit. I think I should be able to control what I see, to some extent.”
“Everyone…!”
Tears welled up in Adelaide's eyes.
They were tears of trust and joy for her dependable companions.
[The 'Tin Knight' says he'll have to add a special training course to beat that Royal Mesugaki!]
[The 'Tin Knight' expresses his remorse, saying that Adelaide's growth has been so dazzling lately that he thinks he's been getting a bit soft himself!]
Adelaide's tears vanished.
While she certainly regretted her past laziness and complacency before meeting the Tin Knight, she could declare with certainty that she had never once slacked off since.
Even now, a significant portion of her daily routine was filled with training. More on top of that?
“Um, Sir Knight? I'm already filling all my free time with training. How can you possibly add more…?”
No matter how hard Adelaide tried, adding 48 hours of training into a 24-hour day was physically impossible.
“Ah, I can help with that.”
Gale, who had been staying out of the conversation as she wasn't directly involved in this incident, stepped forward.
In her hand was a certain book.
Dorothea showed a sign of recognition. “What, is the purification finished?”
“Yes. Without the library's barrier and the support of the other magic books, it'll be difficult to create a world with a physical substance like last time, but it should be possible to temporarily transfer a person's consciousness into the world inside the book with their consent. If we tamper with the story's settings, we should be able to create all sorts of environments.”
Feeling an unidentifiable sense of dread from the two witches' conversation, Adelaide finally realized that the book in Gale's hand was the very same one from the tower's library that had tormented them before being blackened by Dorothea's rampage.
The Tin Knight placed a hand on Adelaide's shoulder.
[The 'Tin Knight' says that from now on, they will reduce training time and increase training intensity by that much!]
[The 'Tin Knight' says that when her body is too exhausted to move, she can train her mind inside the book while her body rests!]
[The 'Tin Knight' says that for the mind, they can even use a time acceleration function, making not just 48 hours of training a day possible, but even more!]
[The 'Tin Knight' says he won't do something as insane as stealing his pupil's prey and opportunities for growth, only to then complain about how slow her progress is!]
[The 'Tin Knight' cheers that Adelaide can do it!]
Adelaide was silent for a moment.
Suddenly, the words Hilda von Lennart had left her with came to mind.
If their talents were equal, all that remained was how they trained, wasn't it?
‘The time I lacked… now I can make up for it until it's no longer lacking.’
“Ha, ha-ha, hahaha.”
With eyes that had somehow lost their focus, Adelaide laughed.
At the sight of his pupil's overflowing motivation, the Tin Knight laughed too.
It was truly a teacher-student relationship overflowing with affection.