Chapter 311: The Tin Knight and the Meaning of the Sacred Treasure (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 311: The Tin Knight and the Meaning of the Sacred Treasure (3)
“This forest has been passed down through the royal family for generations as our hunting grounds. It's quite vast, and no one will complain if it gets a little banged up. Everyone nearby is involved, so there's no need to worry about innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire! Now, feel free to go all out!”
Dorothea found it hard to decide what she should even point out first in this situation.
So, she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Hey, you, King. What are you doing on that side?”
She had committed the outrage of calling the king of a nation “you, King,” but for some reason, the kingdom's subjects weren't offended.
The servants pretended to be deaf, the knights stared up at the blue sky, and the nobles, including William, wore faint smiles of serene resignation. Some even seemed to be thinking, ‘Go on! Give him more!’ as if they were experiencing a moment of sweet, sweet catharsis.
The problem was that Alonso himself didn't seem to mind the title in the slightest.
“Hmm, a valid question. Therefore, I shall explain!”
His needlessly bright and cheerful tone made Dorothea feel an impulse to split his head open with her staff, but she restrained herself.
He wasn't the Tin Knight, and she was a person of culture. A cultured person does not simply bash someone with a blunt object over a few words.
“I joined in because it looked like fun!”
…You know, maybe it’s okay to hit this one.
“W-Witch! Perhaps we should hear him out first!!”
While the golden feline creature next to her purred, trying to keep the witch’s fury sealed, the party's brain, the scarecrow, stepped forward to ask a question.
“Your Majesty the King. Miss Dorothea is here under your orders, collecting the sacred treasures as the kingdom's representative. And Gale Elilaz over there is the representative of the Magic State. Aiding a competitor simply for fun seems to be a rather irrational act.”
“That's not a problem. Lady Gale has promised to give me the sacred treasure even if she wins!”
“……?”
Not just Sophia, but most of the people present had question marks floating above their heads.
Gale added an explanation.
“Yes, it's true. To be honest, the Magic State has no particular reason to desperately collect the sacred treasures right now. Instead, we've agreed that I will ‘purchase’ the Shoes of Borealis from him for a reasonable price!”
I see, the people thought, satisfied with the explanation.
Indeed, in that case, the King had nothing to lose regardless of who won.
He had nothing to lose, but still.
“Then, what's the point of this duel…? Whether we win or Miss Gale's side wins, isn't the outcome—purchasing the shoes with money—the same?”
“Not at all! Because we get to win a duel!”
“I see.”
Sophia slowly turned to her companions and smiled brightly.
“This seems to be one of those situations where no amount of talking will change the outcome! I think it'll be faster to just give up and fight.”
“…No, wait, then what's with that vampire over there?”
Dorothea's mumble wasn't particularly loud, but as a physically-inclined mage, Gale had sharp hearing.
She explained simply and clearly.
“The island this lady lives on was selected for redevelopment. They're fixing it up to use as a tourist spot, so she had nowhere to go, and I brought her along.”
“What is this, adopting a wild animal from a forest you're about to clear-cut…?”
Dorothea pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed.
Camilla, who had just been treated like a species suffering from habitat destruction, looked even more melancholic.
Gale patted Camilla on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up.
“You'll get a bonus if we win this time!”
“I think I've said this many times, but trying to tempt me with money is useless…”
Camilla was serious.
She was by no means slow-witted and possessed the long experience and knowledge accumulated as a long-lived species.
She had long since considered the possibility that Sophia being the second coming of the old ‘Bat’ was purely her own delusion.
But whether Sophia was the former lord of the vampire species or not, it didn't change the fact that her companions were monsters.
The sight of the Dragon King being sunk by the Tin Knight's party and their mana-cannon-spamming boat was still vivid in Camilla's mind.
As the saying goes, a wise person does not court danger.
“A mansion with a garden in the city district next to the Magic Tower! With a special barrier from my master to completely block outside noise and sunlight!”
“…And blood?”
“If you don't mind mine, I can give you some once a week.”
“Even if it's temporary, I suppose I must do my best as your comrade. Leave it to me.”
On second thought, it wasn't like she would die if she lost, so taking a small risk seemed acceptable.
The Tin Knight, who had been watching this exchange, poked Dorothea's arm.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ assesses that the vampire, who didn't have many memorable qualities at first glance, has become more interesting upon a second look!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests preparing a killer joke, stating that you can't lose to them!]
“Just lose at that crap.”
Dorothea heaved yet another sigh, having lost count of how many it had been that day.
Dealing with the Tin Knight alone was tiring enough, but with that white witch—no, that white dopamine addict—running wild, the fatigue was becoming unbearable.
But.
“…If I want to get the sacred treasure, this is something I have to do.”
Tak!
Stomping her heel firmly on the ground, she glared straight ahead.
“So, what are the victory conditions?”
“The duel is lost when either you or I are captured or lose consciousness. Shall we call it ‘Capture the Queen’?”
“You've got some nerve, saying that with shoes that have a spatial movement function.”
Despite her grumbling, Dorothea didn't complain any further about the rules.
If she started picking it apart, there was no reason for Gale, who possessed those shoes, to agree to a direct confrontation in the first place.
If her only goal was to retrieve the sacred treasure, it would have been far more efficient to use endless hit-and-run tactics day and night, slowly whittling them down, or to launch a surprise attack during their daily routine to steal it.
If the treasure had fallen into the hands of someone like the Witch of the North, Mombi, for example, she would have executed such a plan without a moment's hesitation.
Compared to that, using the shoes' power during a duel was practically gentlemanly.
“Ahem.”
As if sensing the situation was more or less settled, Marquis William stepped forward with a cough.
He held a small flag in his hand, looking for all the world like he was to be the referee for this duel.
It was best not to question why a man who was one of the most powerful figures in the country and a trusted vassal of the king was acting as a referee in a duel.
“Well then, as both sides appear to be ready, let the duel begin.”
The moment the highly raised flag was swung down.
─CRRRRAAAAAASSSSH!
The Tin Knight and the White Knight collided head-on, creating a terrifying shockwave.
The spectators, who thought they had secured a safe enough distance, were caught in what felt like a hurricane, pushed back or sent tumbling to the ground. Even those who prided themselves on their considerable skill as knights couldn't follow the two magic dolls' movements, their faces filled with bewilderment.
However, the ones in the middle of the battlefield remained nonchalant amidst the torrent of mana and shockwaves unleashed by the Tin Knight and the White Knight. They already knew this was what happened when those two clashed.
Inside a barrier automatically deployed by her staff, Dorothea began summoning undead, while Gale cast buffs on her allies.
Sophia prepared to draw upon her holy power, and Camilla quietly concealed her presence within the swirling dust.
And the last two clashed in a different spot from the magic dolls.
However, unlike the even match between the Tin Knight and the White Knight, this clash was one-sided.
WHAAAM!
“Y-Your Majesty!!”
“Huuugh!”
With a single sword strike from Adelaide, Alonso's body flew like a kicked ball, breaking three or four trees.
Those who knew of the king's formidable martial prowess were astonished, while the nobles, who treated him as a king despite their misgivings, were horrified for a different reason.
The sight of the tall Alonso, well over 180cm, being sent flying by a small girl who couldn't be more than 160cm, was simply surreal.
However, Adelaide, the one who caused it, had a strange expression. The impact had felt unsatisfying, like striking a fluttering piece of cloth.
Sure enough, when Alonso emerged from the dust cloud, he was fine except for a slight dent in his armor.
His eyes gleaming through the slit of his helmet, Alonso laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Magnificent! Wonderful! I can't believe you're still such a young girl! Lord August's matter was truly a tragedy, but to see his strength so splendidly inherited, how could this not be a joyous occasion!”
It was a remark that some might have found overly insensitive, but the girl, having already worked through the turmoil surrounding her father's affairs, was composed enough to graciously accept such a comment made without malice.
Rather, what bothered Adelaide was something else.
‘Umm, I'm not actually that young….’
Perhaps due to her short stature and lively, cute impression, she was often treated as a little girl or a younger sister, but that was due to the slow aging characteristic of the Lion Duke's bloodline; she wasn't actually as young as she looked.
Considering that Dorothea, who was only about a year different from Adelaide in actual age, was rarely treated like a child, it was a point that subtly bothered her.
‘…Then again, in the witch's case, it might be because of her outfit.’
It was the kind of thought that, if Dorothea had heard it, would have earned her… well, maybe not a beating with a staff, but at least a terrifying glare.
Of course, the king, delighted to meet another strong opponent after the White Knight, failed to notice such trivial details. In fact, he wasn't the type to care even if he had noticed.
After letting out a hearty laugh, he charged at Adelaide, the grin never leaving his face.
Adelaide calmly swung her two-handed sword to receive the attack.
KUUUUNG!
Along with the heavy impact transmitted through the sword, this time it was Adelaide's body that was pushed back.
The surrounding spectators let out cheers and gasps of admiration.
It was partly because Adelaide chose to go with the flow instead of bracing herself, but more than that, the king's abilities had been enhanced.
Mysterious magic characters flowed around the king's body like a shroud.
Adelaide immediately understood that it was Gale's buff, but at the same time, a question arose.
The white witch's enchantment magic boasted the versatility to be used for almost anything and the convenience of being able to change its target on the fly, but it also had the characteristic of a limited number of buffs that could be maintained simultaneously.
To support the White Knight fighting the Tin Knight, reserve magic for Gale herself to fight Dorothea, and at the same time, boost the king's physical abilities to the point where he could hold his own against none other than Adelaide—no matter how she thought about it, it was an overload.
Therefore, Adelaide realized.
This, too, was the power of a sacred treasure.
She recalled the information Dorothea had given her before the duel began.
「Dicondra's Bracelet. Effect: Shares 'mystical effects' between those who wear parts of the bracelet. For beneficial effects, it duplicates them without mana cost, and for negative effects, it splits them in half. I've never used it myself, so I don't know the full extent of what 'mystical effects' covers, but if it applies to Gale's enchantment magic, she and the White Knight might each wear a piece of the bracelet and share the buff effects.」
Unlike Dorothea's prediction, Gale had brought in outside help, but it seemed her basic strategy hadn't changed entirely.
Although the enemy before her was stronger than expected, Adelaide wasn't particularly nervous or discouraged. In fact, her eyes even began to shine faintly.
‘The king's skill is on par with the unbuffed White Knight. And he's also sharing the buffs the White Knight is receiving… which means the king's current skill is equal to the White Knight who pushed Sir Knight to his limit in the World Inside The Library!’
Of course, the Tin Knight had received another spec-up at the Magic Tower after that, so defeating the king now didn't mean she would be stronger than the Tin Knight.
However, it was more than enough as a touchstone to get even one step closer to her revered teacher.
Flames and lightning began to flicker in the lion's eyes.