Chapter 301: The Tin Knight and The Invitation of Memories
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 301: The Tin Knight and The Invitation of Memories
“Father! Mother! This is the woman I will love for the rest of my life, my beautiful bride!”
“Huhu, I’m tempted to scold you for being so frivolous in front of your parents, but since this is an achievement you worked so hard for, I won’t say anything today. I’ve already spoken to the other bride candidates, so while they might grumble behind your back, they won’t do more than that.”
“Our new daughter’s beauty is truly exquisite. And I hear the reason a witch targeted you is because you were born with a special blessing? They say any child born to you will be a great figure who leaves their name in history. I'm already looking forward to seeing my grandchildren.”
“I will do my utmost to serve the Prince, so as not to bring shame to the Count's family name.”
“Yes, my dear. You just ignore the useless chatter from outside and focus on producing an heir. And son, you must prepare to take my place soon.”
“Father, isn't that decision a bit too soon? You are still in good health...”
“The situation in the west is unsettling. The Lennart family, driven out of the Empire, is building a new power base. Their new leader, Adelaide von Lennart, is said to be a tremendously vicious and powerful warrior who destroyed a magic tower for revenge and even drew her sword against the Empire's main family. She is too much for this old man to handle. It is right that we, too, respond with new blood.”
“Indeed, I have heard much of the reputation of the Lion Duke's bloodline. Since you put it that way, Father, I too will do my best.”
“There's no need to confront them with swords unconditionally. Building a friendly relationship would be for the best.”
“Hm? What's wrong, my dear? You look pale.”
“Ah, no. It's nothing. Haha, ahahaha.”
*
Around the time Cinderella was feeling a cosmic level of horror upon realizing the true identity of the person she had been using for mop duty…
“…So, you're saying some woman calling herself Ozma gave you this letter?”
“Yes. She had… how should I put it… a very ominous aura.”
At Adelaide's words, Dorothea's eyes narrowed.
Sophia asked, “Do you know her?”
“I don't know the name Ozma. But black hair and black eyes… Well, it's not like I have no idea. Hmm.”
She stared intently at the letter in her hand for a long while.
Seeing her lost in deep thought, the Lion and the Scarecrow waited for her in silence, but there was one person—no, one doll—who couldn't.
Swoosh!
“Huh?”
While Dorothea was momentarily stunned by someone snatching the letter with the skill of a pickpocket, the Tin Knight raised it high into the air and proudly declared.
[The Tin Knight proclaims that this letter is now his, so he can do whatever he wants with it!]
CLANG!!
With a strike as fast as lightning from Dorothea, the Tin Knight's head was dented by about a third.
The Lion standing beside him thought to himself, At this rate, she'll soon be able to beat down a decent knight with just her staff.
“Give it back, now!?”
[The Tin Knight insists that he hates plot developments where the obvious solution is delayed with all sorts of hemming and hawing!]
[The Tin Knight laments, why dally so much? Either read it or don't!]
“I get it, so just give it back! Honestly, you can't stand to see anyone trying to set a mood!!”
Dorothea ground her teeth and snatched the letter from the Tin Knight's hand. Before the Tin Knight could grumble again, she unfolded it.
And upon seeing its contents, her face filled with bewilderment.
“What is this?”
There were no words written inside the letter. There was only a small seed, neatly wrapped in paper. With no destination, no greeting, no sender, and no recipient, it was doubtful whether this could even be called an invitation.
“What kind of seed could it be?”
“Who knows. I can feel some kind of unique energy from it, though. Tsk.”
While clicking her tongue at the obviously suspicious situation, Dorothea hesitated, unable to simply throw the seed away.
Then, at a certain moment.
Suddenly, the seed bounced—thump—and leaped toward Dorothea's chest. Or rather, it tried to.
Snatch.
The Tin Knight, who had reached out from the side and grabbed the seed, immediately pressed his palms together as if in prayer.
Then, gathering mana in his hands, he began to rub them together with terrifying force.
Pshhhhhhhhh!
The seed, filled with a mysterious energy, pulsed with power as if trying to resist, but it was no match for the Tin Knight, who was rubbing his hands together with the fervor of someone starting a fire with sticks on a deserted island.
Soon, the seed crumbled into dust and scattered into the air.
At the Tin Knight's actions, the Lion just blinked blankly, the Scarecrow covered her mouth and laughed in amusement, and the Witch's jaw dropped.
And to his companions, the Tin Knight gave a thumbs-up.
[The Tin Knight says not to worry, for he has eliminated the ominous sign!]
“What are we supposed to do now that you've destroyed it!?”
Dorothea swung her staff again, but the Tin Knight, unlike usual, dodged it and spoke.
[The Tin Knight argues that it's too naive to leave the source of a sudden attack unchecked!]
[The Tin Knight says you should ignore any messages like 'You can't just throw that away!' and discard what needs to be discarded!]
“I don't know if it was an attack or if it had some other purpose, but if you're going to retaliate, you don't just smash the terminal and call it a day! You trace it back to the root and crush the source!!”
[The Tin Knight stops, shocked that that was the reason, and not something like 'It's a memento from an old acquaintance, so I can't be careless with it'!]
[The Tin Knight expresses heartfelt admiration, thinking she is indeed worthy of being his contractor!]
WHACK!
Leaving the Tin Knight sprawled on the floor after another beating, Dorothea let out a deep sigh.
Then, she asked Adelaide, “Let me ask you again. This Ozma person, you said she was wearing a beautiful dress? Not boyish clothes? And her way of speaking?”
“Uh, yes. It was a pretty, black dress. There was nothing boyish about her speech or demeanor either. If anything, she had the image of a princess from somewhere.”
“The one I know was a tomboy. But for her to call me Dorothy… Well, whatever. It's not like we can use the invitation or whatever it was anymore. Let's just get going as planned.”
Since Dorothea, the person in question, said so, the rest of the party had nothing more to say.
Dorothea took out the Animal Compass and summoned all the compass animals at once.
A shadow-colored snake, a navy mole, a verdant deer, and a golden lizard loitered near Dorothea.
The wine-colored goat stayed by Sophia's side, and the orange-colored lion remained by Adelaide's.
Two animals remained.
A silver horse and a sky-blue bird.
And both animals began to move forward in the exact same direction, without the slightest deviation.
The meaning was clear.
After all, the ‘Shoes of Borealis’ pointed to by the silver horse had long been in the possession of someone the party knew.
“Could Miss Gale have obtained another one of the sacred treasures?”
At Adelaide's murmur, Dorothea shrugged.
“Who knows. Well, she wouldn't have been just sitting around doing nothing, so it's possible.”
From the party's perspective, this wasn't bad news.
It meant that if they just defeated Gale, they could get their hands on two sacred treasures at once without having to wander all over the place.
Besides, with Gale Elilaz as their opponent, they didn't have to worry about her running away or plotting something.
However, one thing was bothering her.
“But when did she get east of us?”
The Tin Knight's party was currently traveling through the kingdom's interior. And this kingdom was a country on the eastern edge of the continent. East of Dorothea's party's current location was only the kingdom's capital and the wild mountain ranges beyond it, which was exactly where the two animals of the compass were heading.
[The Tin Knight takes a positive stance, saying that since they have to return the sacred treasures to the kingdom once they've collected them all anyway, isn't this a good thing!]
“What do you mean, ‘for now’?”
[The Tin Knight says that in his opinion, the probability of everything just ending after they collect the sacred treasures converges to zero!]
“……”
For once, Dorothea couldn't bring herself to deny the Tin Knight's words.
The sacred treasures, created in the heavenly realm using the relics left by the eight generals of the underground. The actions of the Kingdom of Heaven, which had left the treasures neglected on the surface for nearly a thousand years, only to suddenly incite the various nations to gather them in one place. The traces of the underground, not openly revealing themselves but stealthily felt here and there.
It was certain that something was about to erupt, and the trigger was very likely to be the moment all eight sacred treasures were gathered.
“…Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Anyway, I have to pass my graduation exam.”
[The Tin Knight asks if, frankly, based on skill alone, she hasn't already been pulling her own weight for a while now!]
“It's all the same in my teacher's eyes, I bet. Anyway, let's go.”
As they traveled onward in the carriage, the Tin Knight spoke to Dorothea.
[The Tin Knight requests that since they'll be bored on the way anyway, she should just get the story about the letter off her chest!]
“Why are you so interested in other people's pasts? What are you going to do with the information?”
[The Tin Knight says that since he knows Adelaide's story and Sophia's story, it's only fair that he knows Dorothea's story too!]
“What about you?”
[The Tin Knight puffs out his chest proudly, saying it doesn't matter for him since he's always blabbering on anyway.]
“Something to be proud of, I'm sure.”
Dorothea sighed briefly, then leaned back against her seat, tilted her chin up slightly, and stared blankly at the carriage ceiling.
Though they didn't say it out loud, when Dorothea realized that Adelaide and Sophia were also subtly listening in, she let out a dry laugh.
“This is a story… from when I first went down to a village where people lived, after I became my teacher's pupil.”