Chapter 213: The Tin Knight and The Singing Bones
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 213: The Tin Knight and The Singing Bones
After the exploration of the past, which combined Dorothea’s necromancy and the power of the Chalice of Tuberose, came to an end.
With a deep sigh, Dorothea was the first to speak.
“First, the entire leadership of the Tower of Control is guilty. As for the Lennart Ducal House, I don't know how deep their involvement goes, but even if the Duke wasn't directly involved, he can't evade responsibility. If he didn't know what his underlings were doing, he's incompetent. If he knew and let it happen, he's as good as an accomplice.”
A truly thorny situation, she thought.
The Tower of Control. The Lennart Ducal House.
One was one of the four heads leading the Magic State, and the other was the most prestigious of noble families, their power rivaling that of the Imperial Family.
Considering their combined power, military strength, and influence, they were such titans that while there might be factions to match them, none could overwhelm them.
The martial power of Dorothea’s party was extraordinary for a small group, but even so, there were limits.
A direct confrontation was by no means the best course of action.
The problem was whether the young girl, having just learned that her precious family had been brutally murdered and their honor tarnished in a power struggle, still possessed the reason to make such a judgment.
With such concerns, Dorothea glanced at Adelaide and was soon surprised.
The little lion’s gaze was far calmer than she had expected.
As if reading the thoughts on the witch’s face, Adelaide gave a bitter smile.
“It’s not that I’m not angry. But if I just lash out indiscriminately here, I won’t achieve anything.”
The little lion quietly gazed down at her own hands.
As if recalling the memories of the knights that had rested upon them, she clenched her open hands into tight fists.
“My father, the knights, the soldiers… they were all proud to the very end. So, if I am not the same, I won’t be able to face them.”
This was by no means resignation or surrender. Rather, it was a resolve to walk an even more difficult path.
“I want to condemn the culprits and restore Friedel’s honor. Not a miserable victory won by wallowing in the gutter like my enemies, but a just and proud one. After that, I want to offer flowers at the graves of those who have departed.”
Only then would the departed heroes be pleased. They were not so lacking in pride that they would rejoice at seeing Adelaide cast everything aside for revenge and succumb to madness.
“But I don’t have the strength to do it alone. I lack the wisdom to find the right answer. I have no confidence that I won’t walk the wrong path.”
So please, help me. Join me in this fight against the most powerful figures on the continent. Adelaide bowed her head to her companions.
And how did her companions react?
[The ‘Tin Knight’ compliments you on a fine speech!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists on going to smash the Tower of Control—or whatever piece of crap it is—right now!]
“Cut the crap. Seriously, the person involved is reading the room and holding back, so why is the one who's supposed to be her teacher making a bigger fuss?”
“Well, I did think, ‘Maybe Sir Tin could pull it off,’ but it would be inefficient. Especially since we not only have to settle a grudge but also restore Friedel’s fallen honor.”
Without a single word of formal agreement, they immediately began planning the next steps, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As if they had intended to help all along, even without being asked.
Feeling their consideration, the little lion wiped away the tears that were just beginning to well in her eyes and smiled softly.
Dorothea was the first to propose a plan.
“First, we should screw over the nearest Tower of Control, right? How about we inform the other Magic Towers about this? When you think about it, they were backstabbed too, weren't they?”
The Tower of Control had played the victim in this incident.
They claimed they had been attacked first and cried for war, demanding revenge.
The Towers of Foresight and Protection, wary of an all-out war with the Empire, had placated the Tower of Control, which in turn framed it as, ‘We’ll hold back since you’re stopping us,’ turning the situation into a political debt owed to them.
But what if it was revealed that this was all staged?
The Towers of Foresight and Protection wouldn’t just stand by. No, even the Tower of Annihilation, which had called for war just like Control, would be furious upon learning they had merely been used.
Sophia added to Dorothea’s opinion.
“I think that’s a good general direction. However, it will be difficult to persuade them with our claims alone.”
“Well, I did record what we saw using magic.”
Dorothea said, tapping a glossy black skull. Sophia replied.
“In cases like this, the accuracy of the evidence often isn’t considered that important. What’s more important is who is making the claim, and how widely it’s known.”
Sophia held up two fingers.
“First, the head of the Tower of Foresight, Mr. Medir Geldnir. We should inform him of the situation and request his cooperation. He’s one of the few powerful figures in the Magic State who is friendly to us.”
“You do remember we skipped out on a proper trial there last time, right?”
“It doesn’t matter. The key figure is someone else, anyway. He just needs to play the role of a sympathizer.”
“Who?”
To Dorothea’s question, Sophia answered with a strangely mischievous smile.
“We need to bring in the Witch of the North. If she, who was involved in the founding of the Magic Towers, publicly declares our story to be ‘true,’ there could be no better guarantee.”
“Hmm,” Dorothea said, crossing her arms.
“…If it succeeds, it would be perfect. It’s also good that we won’t have to change our route, since we were planning to meet her anyway. But we don’t even know what kind of person the Witch of the North is. She might just side with her own disciples. Isn’t it too reckless to just go and ask for help?”
“You are absolutely right. Naturally, we must dig multiple holes.”
After ‘who’ comes ‘how widely,’ the scarecrow spun her wisdom.
“First of all—”
“—let’s collect all the bones of the mages scattered here.”
*
The Magic State Aeolia. Greenwood, a territory under the Tower of Control.
“Haaah.”
The shepherd, David, forced his heavy eyes open, rubbing them as he struggled to his feet.
His whole body felt as heavy as rain-soaked wool, and yawns kept escaping his lips.
He hadn't slept properly for days, staying up all night, and his fatigue just wouldn't go away.
“Damned magic beast.”
It had been a week since a magic beast started circling David’s flock, eyeing the sheep he was supposed to protect.
As a respectable shepherd, David could handle an ordinary wolf on his own, but a magic beast with special powers was a different story.
It was a monster that could shatter his wooden staff in a single bite and leap over a tall wooden fence with ease.
For David, who was merely physically capable, there was no way to defeat the beast, unlike a knight or a mage who could wield mana.
Perhaps the beast wasn't particularly gluttonous, as it would eat one sheep every two days or so and leave the others alone, but that didn't bring David any peace of mind.
Unless his sheep gave birth every two days and the lambs grew up in the blink of an eye, the end was already set: he would lose all his sheep and be ruined. The only difference was the long reprieve before that end.
“This damned country. It can go to hell for all I care.”
David had asked the guards for help, but their response was cold.
They said that unless it happened in the city, it wasn't under their jurisdiction.
Of course, David had no memory of them ever doing their jobs properly in the city.
He had, however, often seen them fawning over mages out on the town from the Tower, acting like their lackeys and harassing people.
Mages.
That’s right. Mages.
“Fuck, fuck. What's the point of having special powers if they don't even use them properly!”
The Tower of Protection had greatly improved people's standard of living with the magic tools they created.
The Tower of Annihilation had set up a facility similar to a request office, resolving residents' petitions without demanding a hefty price. The facility's purpose was to cultivate the combat experience of its mages, so it was a shame they didn't take non-combat requests, but even that was a great help to the residents.
The Tower of Foresight didn't particularly interfere in external affairs, but they granted their territories broad discretion, so as long as the lord was a decent person, the people could live in peace.
But the Tower of Control was different.
It wasn't that they didn't help others with their magic, but the benefits were strictly reserved for the haves.
Their reasoning was that it was more efficient to bestow favors upon the wealthy than to bother with nobodies who had neither power nor influence.
In truth, it wasn't entirely impossible for David to join that upper-class cartel.
Having inherited dozens of sheep from his father, David was quite wealthy himself, at least in terms of assets.
He was still young and well-suited for shepherding, which was why he continued the work. If he wanted to, he could have bought slaves to manage the flock for him.
If he just closed his eyes and sold off about half his sheep, using the money to grease some palms, getting help from a ‘mage’ wouldn't be just a dream.
The problem was that he couldn't bring himself to just hand over the fruits of his back-breaking labor to those damn robbers.
Hoping to God that the damned magic beast had fallen into one of his traps, David headed for his pasture.
“Huh?”
To state the conclusion first, his traps had yielded no results. But at the same time, no sheep had been eaten either.
“…What's with that thing?”
The magic beast that had been the source of his recent, tiresome misfortune was circling the sheep, drooling, but unlike usual, it only prowled nearby and couldn't seem to approach them.
Observing it carefully, David realized that the beast couldn't get within a certain radius of the lead sheep.
It was as if it were afraid of the lead sheep.
He soon found out why.
Tangled in the lead sheep’s fluffy wool, a never-before-seen object was dangling.
“A flute?”
That's right. It was a pure white flute.
Its craftsmanship wasn't particularly fine, but its unique luster had a strange power that drew the eye.
David picked up the flute without much thought, and was promptly horrified.
《Oh, friend! My dear friend who has taken me in hand!
Please, I pray you, listen to this tale.
Please, I pray you, learn of this great conspiracy.
The Tower joined hands with the Lion, to stage a phony war!
They killed the innocent, and pinned all their sins upon them!
They tried to erase all who knew the truth, and all who sought it!
Oh, how terrifying!》
David reflexively threw the flute that had suddenly started singing, but it did not stop its song.
“What the hell is that.”
David stood with his mouth agape.
He wondered if he was seeing things from lack of sleep, but pinching his cheek hard only hurt; nothing else changed.
‘Is it a cursed object? If I break it, the curse might transfer to me, so maybe I should secretly throw it away somewhere… No, wait.’
David almost unconsciously picked up the flute again and took a step toward the growling beast in the distance.
And what do you know, the beast took a step back.
“Oh, this thing works like a charm.”
In David’s mind, the flute’s rating skyrocketed from ‘cursed, ominous object’ to ‘a gift from the heavens to defeat that damn magic beast.’
So what if it’s a little ominous? It can screw over that damned beast that was trying to ruin my life!
“The sheep follow the lead sheep anyway, so if I tie this to its body, that thing won't even come near. Good, excellent.”
The only thing that bothered him was the content of the bone's song.
David, a mere shepherd, didn't know exactly what the lyrics meant, but he could tell they were insulting the Magic Tower.
However, the flute's effect was too appealing to simply dispose of it.
After a moment's thought, David decided to head down to the city.
He intended to subtly ask around about the flute, perhaps talking to the tavern owner or some of the old men.
And there, David witnessed a dumbfounding sight.
The flutes were singing.
In the hands of a street clown, on a high rooftop, held in a cat’s mouth—they were circulating everywhere in every way, singing with all their might.
A bird flying in the sky swooped down, dropped a new bone flute right in front of David, and disappeared.
《Oh, friend! My dear friend who has taken me in hand!
Please, I pray you, listen to this tale.
Please, I pray you, learn of this great conspiracy.
The Tower joined hands with the Lion, to stage a phony war!
They killed the innocent, and pinned all their sins upon them!
They tried to erase all who knew the truth, and all who sought it!
Oh, how terrifying! Oh, how pathetic! If you can hide it this time, go on and try, my friends in the Tower!》