Chapter 254: The Tin Knight and the Imperial Banquet (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 254: The Tin Knight and the Imperial Banquet (4)
Truth be told, Algind had no intention of having the Tin Knight’s party clash with the Lennart family from the very beginning.
The Lion Duke’s bloodline was a massive organization. Beyond those who bore the Lennart name directly, there were countless others connected to them, from dojo disciples to military officials.
Even within the bloodline, the web of relationships was truly complex and diverse: the pro-family head faction, the pro-elder faction, the neutral faction, the radicals who claimed to be pro-family head, and the morons who sided with the elders simply because they were swept up in the surrounding atmosphere, oblivious to the consequences of their actions.
As competent as Algind was, and even with the support of the Empress’s faction, it was impossible for her to grasp every single one of these minute details and relay them to the Tin Knight’s party.
So, Algind’s proposal had been to get through the First Test—the preliminaries—without any trouble and begin the lion hunt during the second test, when the number of people had dwindled. But…
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says there’s no need to overthink it! He says if he just beats up everyone with blonde hair and purple eyes, he’ll probably get it half-right!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that the proper way to do these things is to start from the bottom and work your way up!]
…faced with the Tin Knight’s assertions, her sensible and rational proposal was blithely ignored.
Algind looked to the other party members with a glimmer of hope, but it was a futile effort.
The scarecrow, far from trying to stop him, offered a concrete strategy, suggesting they disguise themselves since it would be effective at first, even if they were eventually found out.
The lion muttered something that was either compassionate or bloodthirsty, saying that indiscriminately killing those not directly involved was a no-go, but beating them up within the confines of the test should be fine.
The witch, who at first seemed to be reining in the other members, finally gave in with a “whatever happens, happens” attitude after the Tin Knight started egging her on from the side. (Algind couldn’t hear his voice directly, but she could tell just from the atmosphere.)
Was this really the hero party that had taken down two legendary witches?
Algind had worried they might accidentally take out the Duke’s own forces in addition to their actual targets, the radicals. But soon, she had a great realization.
Even if that happened, the one who would suffer was the Duke. Why should she go out of her way to be considerate of him?
If he was fated to be struck by a meteor falling from the sky in a Z-pattern, wasn't that just his lot in life?
Algind quickly finished rationalizing to herself.
Amazingly, a peace like a quietly flowing river settled in her heart.
Of course, the young men of the Lion Duke’s bloodline, who were being beaten to a pulp by the Tin Knight as a result of Algind’s surrender, did not get to enjoy that peace.
“Get him! Surround him!”
“Dammit, what is this monster?!”
Thwack! Thump!
Every time the Tin Knight, clad in his mascot costume, flailed his arms and legs, members of the Lion Duke’s bloodline fell one after another.
It looked so ridiculous and effortless that the other participants nearby began to have thoughts of their own.
‘What the? They’re weaker than I thought.’
‘All that talk about Lennart, Lennart… I guess the rumors were exaggerated.’
‘At this rate, even I could….’
It was a misunderstanding that would have caused the young men to lose sleep at night from the sheer injustice of it all.
Objectively speaking, their skills were far from weak. They were incomparable to the knights of most domains; each one was a powerhouse capable of single-handedly slaughtering an entire bandit group with ease.
If they had fought the Tin Knight from the beginning of his journey, he would have been at a disadvantage.
If they had fought him after he had his mana circuits restored, it still would have been a decent fight.
But the one they were facing now was a Tin Knight who had not only restored his mana circuits but had also vastly increased his mana capacity and gained a remote mana supply function.
The Tin Knight possessed many abilities, but at the very top of the list was his perversely delicate mana manipulation.
While a typical knight might stop at projecting sword energy or enhancing their body, the Tin Knight had a plethora of creative applications. He could create sword-energy spikes on the soles of his feet to climb walls or expel mana in the opposite direction to increase the power of his strikes.
The problem was that every one of these techniques consumed mana.
The Tin Knight, lacking the ability to produce or recover mana on his own, consumed it just by standing still. Because of this, he always had to be conscious of fighting efficiently.
To use a game analogy, it was as if he had self-sealed dozens of sustained skills like [Fluid Mana Armor: Continuously circulates mana on the body’s surface to suppress damage upon impact. Consumes 6 mana per second while active], minimized the use of single-use active skills, and fought primarily with basic attacks.
But not anymore.
The remote mana supply was much slower than direct contact, but the crucial point was that the supply was continuous, even in the middle of a fight, without any need for rest or regrouping.
In other words, as long as he managed his consumption rate, the Tin Knight could now spam his skills as much as he wanted.
And the resulting increase in power was enough to crush the youths of the Lion Duke’s bloodline—who would have been mid-bosses in the early stages of his journey—as if they were small fry.
“…He’s having the time of his life, isn't he.”
Watching the scene out of the corner of her eye, Dorothea shook her head.
While she would fight when necessary, she didn’t enjoy combat for its own sake, a sentiment she found truly difficult to understand.
Seeing Dorothea standing off to the side, distracted and covered in a large robe, a few participants charged at her in a surprise attack, but none succeeded in reaching their goal.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
“Keuk!”
“Ugh!”
The staff in Dorothea’s hand drew an exquisite trajectory, beating them into submission in an instant.
It wasn’t that Dorothea’s staff skills had finally reached a state of mastery after leveling up from constantly reining in the Tin Knight’s nonsense… but rather that the staff itself was moving as if it had a will of its own.
Dorothea let out a dry laugh as she looked at the staff in her hand.
The words of the Witch of the North, Orin, came to mind: ‘I added a function for it to protect its master on its own.’
Dorothea had interpreted that to mean a barrier spell would automatically deploy if she was caught in a surprise attack, but it seemed the meaning was far more comprehensive.
“Like master, like pupil, I guess.”
Muttering that for a mage, her master had a pointless love for martial arts, she stoically faced the enemies charging at her.
*
Before entering the test, Adelaide had been lost in a single thought.
‘What kind of attitude should I approach this with?’
Considering this was Friedel’s revenge, it was only right to be serious and solemn.
But at the same time, she was self-aware.
‘If I keep acting so grim, I feel like I’ll end up taking my anger out on the wrong people.’
Just as smiling repeatedly could make one feel positive, actions and emotions were interconnected.
Her resentment and anger had subsided considerably after she had let loose in the Tower of Control, but if she kept fanning the flames of her fighting spirit in the name of revenge, there was no telling when that small ember might flare up into a wildfire again.
And that was not what Adelaide wanted.
She didn’t want to tarnish Friedel’s honor by slaughtering innocents under the pretext of revenge, nor did she want to hinder her companions on their journey to collect the kingdom’s secret treasures.
Therefore, she decided to set a rule for herself.
As long as she wore the mask, she wouldn’t think about grudges or revenge.
She would act lightly, cheerfully, as if she had forgotten all about her resentment—so much so that someone might point a finger and ask how she could laugh and joke when her family had been murdered.
She would gather all the negative things into a box deep in her heart, lock it, and temporarily hide the key somewhere else.
And someday, when the mask came off.
When the box was opened.
Then.
《—And so, only participants who satisfy at least one of the three conditions will be granted the right to proceed to the next test. Furthermore, the number of successful candidates may be less than 100.》
“Ah.”
Adelaide’s consciousness, which had been submerged in her thoughts beneath the mask, returned to reality.
She quickly scanned her surroundings.
Perhaps it was due to her brilliant blonde hair and small frame.
Even though she was just standing still, many eyes were fixed on her.
Some looked at her with contempt, seeing her as easy prey.
Others, in stark contrast, regarded her with suspicion and wariness.
Neither was particularly positive. The only warm gaze came from the green-haired scarecrow, who was taking the test in the same site.
As soon as the signal to begin the test rang out, several people charged at her with their swords drawn.
And in the next instant, a large empty space formed in the center of the test site.
“Huh?”
“W-what was that?”
Few had been able to see what had just happened.
“My god.”
And one of those few, Lin, the leader of the adventurer party that had received the title of ‘Blue Gold’ from the guild, let out a deep sigh.
She replayed the scene she had just witnessed in her mind.
After the test began, the masked, golden-haired girl had lifted something from the ground.
A pole of unknown purpose, about three meters long.
It had been rolling on the ground so naturally, and its length was so great, that no one had thought of it as a weapon. The golden-haired girl had gripped it with both hands and simply spun.
And in a single motion, she had thrown every single person within that radius out of the test site.
As if she were sweeping away trash with a broom.
“What kind of strength is that?”
Just swinging a thick, three-meter-long metal pole was an impossible feat for an ordinary person.
But she hadn’t just swung it; she had swung it with several people clinging to it. And she’d even done it with enough fine control to keep her opponents’ heads from smashing on the ground as they flew?
As the leader of a top-tier adventurer party, Lin quickly gave orders to her companions.
“That masked girl. Don’t ever touch her.”
“I-I think I know who she is. She must be the one from the Magic State who beat a tower head to death, that girl from Friedel—”
“—Adelaide von Lennart!!”
It seemed the Blue Gold party wasn't the only one to have guessed the masked girl’s identity, as a furious roar erupted from among the participants.
Blonde hair and purple eyes.
A young man displaying the obvious traits of the Lion Duke’s bloodline and his companions condemned her, their faces filled with rage.
“I’ve heard the rumors about you! You foolish wench who colluded with the Magic State to spread absurd lies about the main family!”
“A traitor like you dares to show your face at this test?! Have you no shame?!”
Normally, a condemnation from a crowd has the power to intimidate the listener by itself.
How much more so when it came from those holding swords and radiating killing intent.
However, the girl showed not a hint of intimidation. She simply tilted her head slightly and said,
“Do they teach you to fight with your tongues instead of your swords in the main family?”
She delivered a top-tier provocation as if it were nothing.
To the men who were too enraged to speak, Adelaide showed a brief flash of surprise before continuing.
“Ah, um, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just found it a little strange. I apologize if you were offended.”
If it was intentional, it was a stunningly sharp move. If it was unintentional, it was a barb several times more terrifying.
Its effectiveness was proven as the red-faced members of the bloodline and their disciples charged at her in unison.
Facing the oncoming rush, Adelaide once again swung the metal pole.
Those who tried to cut the pole or deflect the attack with their swords were struck down on the spot, but those who focused on evasion managed to get right in front of her.
Just as the sharp, sword-energy-infused blades were about to pierce Adelaide’s body, she moved with fluid grace.
“—?!”
Five in total.
The swordsmen who had attacked from different directions stared with wide eyes, as if they had seen something impossible.
They were shocked that Adelaide, who should have been pierced like a pincushion, had completely evaded their attacks with nothing more than a light step.
They did not know.
Though Adelaide had recently been making active use of her belt’s power, she was, at her core, an evasion-type swordswoman.
She kicked and broke a shin, jabbed an elbow into a side, grabbed the back of one head and smashed it into another’s, and kicked a chin with the tip of her foot.
After crushing five elite fighters in an instant, Adelaide threw the youths she held in her hands somewhere else.
A few participants who had been trying to target Sophia were hit by the flying human cannonballs and sent tumbling to the ground.
“Thank you, Lady Adel.”
“Oh, it was nothing. But, um, could you take a look at this person? His bones seem to be weaker than I thought, so the blow went a little deeper.”
“Aha. He’ll need treatment. The one next to him with the shattered jaw, too.”
Watching the two converse so casually, the other participants all had the same thought.
The lunatics have arrived.