Chapter 204: The Little Lion and The Room of Memories (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 204: The Little Lion and The Room of Memories (3)
—Setting aside my grudge and judging him objectively, he was a formidable man in his own right.
A mere bandit. The audacity of a vicious gang leader from the continent's fringes, to fearlessly target a collateral branch of the Lion Duke's bloodline for plunder.
The wolf-like instinct to keenly sense when his prey had weakened and tear into it, and skills superior to those of most knights.
The place he was born, the path he chose to walk, the luck that was somewhat lacking.
Now, I could honestly admit that had even one of these things been different, he might have grown into a great figure in his own way.
He was certainly not an opponent that a foolish girl, born with a treasure yet letting it rot in comfort, could have overcome.
But that, too, was a story of the past.
The bandit who stabbed a villager in the back, the bandit who laughed while binding a female soldier, the bandit who swung his sword to block her path.
After cutting, cutting, and cutting them down, the man she finally faced no longer felt as strong, nor as frightening, as before.
“You bitch—!!”
Sword energy erupted from the bandit Colombo's blade.
Against this power, which could rival that of a decent knight, Adelaide used no fancy techniques.
From upper right to lower left, using her whole body as an axis and her sword as the edge, she spun like a top and unleashed a single flash.
All that was needed was power, speed, and the precision to keep the attack's trajectory true.
Slice!
From shoulder to flank.
The body of the once-ambitious man split diagonally, as if sliding apart.
The remaining bandits fled, and the surviving soldiers and villagers cheered. And then, just as suddenly, it all vanished like foam.
At some point, Adelaide had returned to the hallway where she started.
In a scene that at first glance seemed to have returned to its original state, only a small nameplate next to the door proved what she had accomplished.
<Inhuman Bandit Leader: Colombo — Subjugation Complete>
“…”
A flicker of emptiness passed through Adel's eyes.
It wasn't as if this would change the past, so what meaning was there in showing off her strength against Colombo now, other than simple self-satisfaction?
But.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if your heart feels a little lighter now!]
That's enough, her teacher said.
He said that while you can't change what's already happened, at least the knot in your chest might loosen a bit.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests that since the warm-up is over, you should move on to the next stage right away!]
…Well, he might not have been thinking that deeply and was just demanding a new fight, but Adel decided to interpret it in a positive light.
“Yes, let's do it!”
Whether he intended it or not, it was clear that being with her teacher made all her petty worries feel meaningless.
Adel opened the door.
*
The scene was the training grounds of the Tik-Tok Count’s mansion.
Two figures came into Adel's view.
One was a stern old man in a rough, wild-looking martial arts uniform, his entire body showing signs of extraordinary training.
The other was a handsome young man with androgynous features, enough to be mistaken for a woman, stylishly dressed in a red outfit like a member of a military band.
Adel glanced instinctively to her side, but the Tin Knight, who should have been there, was now just a small mascot on her shoulder.
In other words, it was two against one.
A scarred but solid, rock-like fist faced forward.
A flexible yet sharp, silver rapier gleamed ominously.
The referee shouted.
“Match, begin!”
Simultaneously, the two skilled martial artists charged at Adel.
The handsome young man, René's, thrust was like a flash of light.
She thought there was a distance of about five meters between them, but in the blink of an eye, his blade was right at her neck.
An attack that, in the past, she had struggled just to evade and endure.
But the Adel of today was different.
Screech!
Adel placed her two-handed sword in the path of René's thrust, and the moment their blades made contact, she smoothly pushed it aside.
The simple movement, packed with immense strength, sent René's posture staggering far to the side.
René tried to quickly retract his extended rapier, but Adel followed his momentum and swung her sword forward.
Shunk!
Because René had quickly evaded, the blade only grazed a small patch of skin near his left forearm.
However, the power granted by the Belt of Amaryllis was so immense that even such a light touch from the blade's edge caused the surrounding skin to burst open as if it had been gouged out.
Adel tried to follow up with another attack, but an ominous feeling from her side made her twist her body away.
It wasn't enough, so she instantly focused her mana to raise her defense to its limit, but—
CRACK!
As if such a defense were no more than glass, the old man, Gerhardt's, Shattering Fist slammed into Adel's side.
“Cough!”
Blood sprayed from Adel's mouth as her body was sent flying sideways.
The impact was truly immense. It felt worse than taking a direct, defenseless blow to the stomach from a warhammer swung with full centrifugal force.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that old man’s basic attacks pierce deep into the body, so be careful next time!]
With no time to argue that he should have mentioned that earlier, Adel swung her sword to meet the approaching enemy.
The sharpness of Adel's sword energy couldn't cut through Gerhardt's tough muscles, strong bones, and solid protective aura, but sharpness wasn't the only thing that mattered when it came to harming a human body.
CRRRUNCH!
Unable to withstand her monstrous strength, Gerhardt's arm was literally ‘torn’ from his shoulder.
It looked as if the arm of a stuffed doll had caught on something sharp and been ripped clean off.
In a situation where an ordinary person would have screamed in pain and shock, the old man was, as expected, resolute.
He paid no mind to his one-armed body and threw a front kick at Adel. As she blocked it, her left arm bent at a grotesque angle.
A flash of silver pierced Adel's forehead.
Or rather, it almost did.
Crackle!
Violet lightning sparked from Adel's body, and her movements suddenly became several times faster, as if on fast-forward.
Her internal organs, which had been screaming in protest since Gerhardt's blow, were instantly restored to function, and her broken left arm returned to its original state.
Before René could react to her abnormal regenerative ability, Adelaide's hand grabbed him by the collar.
The next moment, René's body was launched like a cannonball.
Gerhardt managed to dodge the human projectile flying toward him, but he couldn't react to Adel, who had closed the distance by sticking close to René's shadow.
Adel's slash bisected Gerhardt's upper body, and at the same time, René's body slammed into the wall, his head shattering.
The referee declared, “Winner! Adelaide von Lennart!”
*
Once again, the hallway.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses his regret, saying, ‘Oh, to die so pathetically, O Hero!’]
“Hey, I didn't die.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out that while you won, the content of the match was a loss!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that with Adelaide’s abilities, she could have won with just the power of the ‘belt’ without needing to use the lightning!]
“Hmph….”
Adelaide pouted slightly.
And with good reason. Her opponents were the representative instructors of the Lennart dojo.
Even if they hadn't undergone the modifications to restore their mana circuits, they were powerhouses who had fought on equal footing with the Tin Knight himself, if only for a moment.
She, who previously couldn't last even a few dozen seconds against René alone, felt that winning a two-on-one fight—even with various buffs—was a decent enough accomplishment.
To be precise, she was just sulking because the Tin Knight hadn't praised her, but that was her own line of thinking.
However, that anger didn't last long.
Hop! Hop hop!
Watching the mini Tin Knight repeatedly jumping, trying to reach the nameplate next to the door, she felt all her disappointment and frustration melt away.
Adel placed the Tin Knight on her palm and moved him in front of the nameplate.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ praises his pupil’s sense, calling it a nice assist!]
Giving a thumbs-up, the Tin Knight erased the ‘Subjugation Complete’ part from the phrase <Representative Instructors of Old and New: René & Gerhardt — Subjugation Complete> on the nameplate.
Her question of what that meant was soon answered.
Unlike when she had entered the door after defeating Colombo and was immediately transported to the next battlefield, this time, the two men she had just defeated reappeared.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ assigns his pupil a challenge!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says she must succeed at two separate challenges: winning without wearing the Belt of Amaryllis, and winning without using the violet lightning!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that while it would be great to do both at once, the difficulty would be too high, so they should talk after she passes the ones he just mentioned!]
Adel nodded.
The signal to begin the match rang out, and the three Lennarts clashed.
*
“There won't be any problems, right? She looks fine on the outside, at least.”
Inside the moving carriage, Dorothea spoke, looking at Adel, who lay with a peaceful expression, and the Tin Knight, who sat motionless beside her.
Gale shrugged.
“I've put in double and triple safety measures. At the very least, she won't fall into an eternal sleep she can't wake from, or suffer mental damage that affects her physical body. In other words, I can't guarantee against any other kind of emergency.”
“Hey.”
“Well, this is something my master made with her own hands. Can you freely modify that birdcage of yours and control it as you please, Dorothea?”
Put that way, she had no retort.
Souls left in their natural state are usually tainted, and such souls are difficult to use for anything other than harming others or as raw material to squeeze mana from.
To use them for acquiring information or for rational actions beyond combat, the soul must first be purified. The birdcage Dorothea possessed was an exceptional item that allowed her to skip that process.
Its only flaw was that it was so exceptional she couldn't even dream of replicating or modifying it.
Dorothea fell silent, and Sophia picked up the baton instead.
“By the way, are there no limits to the illusions that book can create?”
“Not exactly. Precise illusions require equally precise information.”
She explained that if you try to force the creation of a strong enemy without detailed and rich information to fill it, you'll only end up with a crude, incomplete amateur.
“So, there are two main things it can manifest. One is the characters and enemies that appear in the ‘Labyrinth Exploration,’ which is the book's basic story. The other is figures from the participant's memory. However, the latter has its limits. Since it's reconstructed based on memory, it has many flaws compared to the original.”
For example, even if the original person in the memory was capable of using both sword and magic, if the participant never saw them use magic, they will only be reproduced as a swordsman.
Also, if the opponent's capabilities are so far beyond the participant's that they can't properly grasp their level, the opponent will only be manifested within the limits of the user's understanding.
“That's why I attached the Tin Knight as a helper. Lady Adel, who is still growing, might not have been able to fully grasp the skills of those powerful foes, but the Tin Knight would have a complete understanding and perception of them. The reproduction accuracy will be much higher. Well, even besides that, just being with the ‘current’ Tin Knight probably has the effect of improving one's mental state.”
“Is it the same for their personality?”
“That part is a bit ambiguous. Unlike physical specs or combat power, which are relatively easy to quantify, completely reproducing someone's personality data is quite a difficult task. Unless you have a separate external device that has stored the target's soul or memories... Huh? Sig? What is it?”
Gale's explanation was suddenly cut short.
It was because the white knight, who had been surveying the surroundings from the driver's seat, had warned his master of something.
The warning was as follows.
—Multiple eyes are watching this carriage. Their numbers are increasing.