Chapter 341: The Tin Knight and the Underground Kingdom (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 341: The Tin Knight and the Underground Kingdom (6)
Even the strongest of beings have their moments of weakness.
When they eat, when they fall ill, when they age, when they're not feeling well, or when they're fast asleep.
Of course, this was a reality far removed from your own.
You, outside the monitor, were a being who felt no fatigue, no hunger, no sickness.
And you, as the knight, were also a being who needed neither rest nor sleep.
But this time was an exception.
Because by entering the ‘story’ to be with Dorothea, you had become temporarily vulnerable to external threats.
That was why you couldn't react in time to the pillar of light that shot down the moment you regained consciousness.
What followed was a rather tedious time.
The light must have possessed some special power, for the connection between you and the Tin Knight had been severed.
Only a single message appeared on the monitor.
「Connection delayed due to an unidentified transfer. Please wait.」
You stared silently at the screen.
First came bewilderment, then anger. Finally, a wave of impatience washed over you.
Through your journey with your companions, you had come to accept that this situation was not a dream.
However, that also meant you had to acknowledge the cold reality of your situation.
The fact that you were a specter in a small, enclosed room, with a single computer as your only window to communicate with others—a specter who didn't even know if it was alive or dead.
Your chest felt tight, and for some reason, you felt as if you were running out of breath.
The price for not turning away from reality was incredibly heavy.
You were battling loneliness and anxiety, staring at the screen, when it happened.
Tap. You felt as if someone had brushed against you.
You turned your head and looked around, but there was nothing to be seen.
You were, of course, alone here.
With a short sigh, you focused on the screen again.
After some time, you saw the screen light up again, and your expression brightened.
Your senses split in two as a part of you entered the Tin Knight.
And, by your side when you opened your eyes…
“—Oh my, Sir Tin Knight. Are you feeling all right?”
It wasn't the prim and proper witch in black, but a playful witch in a white suit who was looking at you, alongside the knight.
*
“We'd just finished a battle with a tough enemy and were about to catch our breath when, out of nowhere, an emerald pillar of light came crashing down from the sky! I tried my best to dodge it, but I failed in the end. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strange place. So I wandered around a bit, and that's when I happened to find you, Sir Tin Knight.”
With skillful expressions and gestures, Gale Elilaz chattered on nonchalantly.
She had a cheerful way of speaking, delivering her long lines with clear, easy-to-understand diction, without slurring or hesitating once.
“Oh, and I'm sorry for putting my mana into your brooch without asking. I only meant to put it into your body, but it seems to have registered automatically. Should I cancel the registration now?”
The Tin Knight shook his head.
It was true that for a long time, he hadn't allowed anyone but his traveling companions to put their mana into his brooch, but it wasn't worth making a fuss to remove a registration that was already done.
The Tin Knight glanced around before asking.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ marvels at how she found him in such a vast place!]
“Oh, that? There was a marker.”
Saying so, Gale swung her staff.
『Discern』
Immediately after the magic characters were etched into the air, an emerald aura became clearly visible around the bodies of the Tin Knight, Gale, and the white knight.
“It's probably an aftereffect of being hit by that pillar of light. The local creatures have been strangely hostile toward us, and I think this might be the reason.”
Gale explained that if there were others in a similar predicament, they would also be emitting this ‘emerald energy’ from their bodies, and she had found the Tin Knight by tracking it.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if she can find the others too!]
“It's possible, as long as they haven't erased it. But we'll have to hurry. Like I just said, this energy itself seems to attract the hostility of those around here, so there's a high chance they'll realize it exists and get rid of it right away.”
The Tin Knight was about to say, Then let's go find them quickly, but his gaze fell upon Gale and the white knight.
Gale's white suit was torn and dirtied in several places, and the bare skin peeking through was covered in wounds.
The white knight's body was also broken here and there, a clear sign of the fierce battle they had just endured.
Frankly, they looked like they needed to rest immediately, before even thinking about searching for others.
He found himself hesitating, wondering if it was right to ask such people to accompany him on a search for his own companions.
It would have been best if the Tin Knight could move on his own, but his mana was at a dangerously low level.
He must have been quite far from his companions, as the remote mana supply function was currently offline.
Moving alone without knowing where he was or where his companions were was practically impossible.
“Hm? Aren't you coming? I said we have to hurry.”
But as if the Tin Knight's worries and her own condition were trivial matters, the white witch casually urged him on.
The Tin Knight glanced toward the white knight, but he merely stood guard behind her, as if to say he only followed his master's orders.
The Tin Knight finally nodded and set off with his two new companions.
Clank, clank.
The journey was quite long and arduous.
The bizarre local creatures that charged at them as if they'd met their parents' murderers... were not actually the biggest problem.
Gale, who seemed capable of almost anything, must have had her limits when it came to healing, as she could barely fight. On the other hand, the Tin Knight and the white knight had bodies that could be repaired from any injury as long as they had enough mana.
The two magic dolls competed at the forefront, grinding their enemies to dust, to the point that no foe even reached Gale.
The real threat to the party was, in fact, the environment.
This land, an endlessly sprawling, vaguely dark space that they presumed to be the underground, was simply too bizarre.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says the water is flowing upwards!]
“Wow, it really is. I've heard you can create a similar phenomenon with optical illusions, but this is actually, physically flowing backward.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says the air has suddenly become heavy!]
“Hmm. Increase the defensive magic output. Sig, could you carry me for a bit? It's hard to even take a step.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says this ice burns and explodes on contact!]
“It's pretty, but deadly. Huh? It's releasing poison along with the heat? Thanks for blocking it, Sig.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ recommends a detour, saying his body started to rust the moment he entered this area!]
“Hmm, even with ‘Discern,’ I can't figure out the specific cause. Let's take a detour, just as you said, Sir Tin Knight.”
Nothing about the underground's natural environment was normal.
On the surface, ‘The Garden’ was the prime example of a peculiar environment, but even it could be considered tranquil compared to the bizarreness of the underground.
It wasn't that strange phenomena were occurring due to mana or magic; the natural environment itself seemed to be maliciously trying to kill living things.
Among them were countless trap-like environments: walking across a plain without any warning, the air would suddenly turn from normal to poisonous; or a gently rippling stream would actually possess the force and mass of a tidal wave, snapping one's foot the moment it touched the water.
Thanks to this, the Tin Knight had to personally take the lead and test all sorts of strange phenomena with his own body, while Gale had to come up with appropriate ‘countermeasures’ each time. The escalating mana consumption was an unfortunate side effect.
The creatures of the underground seemed to find these environments just as unpleasant, as almost nothing lived near such malicious areas.
To be more specific, no creatures lived in the most intensely malicious environments, bizarre creatures lived where the malice was moderate, and intelligent beings seemed to dwell in the places that were somewhat habitable.
The party chose a middle path whenever possible, but they still couldn't completely avoid being detected by the forces of the underground.
《─■■■■! ! !》
Whoosh! Whoosh!
When a woman with pointed ears and a stylish military uniform shouted a command, all sorts of projectiles flew toward the party.
Arrows shot by the pointy-eared ones, catapults used by the short ones, and so on.
The Tin Knight and the white knight steadily blocked the attacks, but their opponents paid them no mind and continued their endless barrage.
And whenever the two knights tried to advance or approach them, they would quickly retreat or block the path with barricades as an added measure.
“Hey! We have no intention of fighting you!!”
Gale tried her best to initiate a conversation, her voice amplified by `『Amplify』` magic, but the only response was a rain of stones and arrows.
The party looked at the female soldier who maintained the encirclement and continued to order the attacks.
She, who looked to be the strongest among them—no, she was definitely ‘general-class’—seemed to understand the language Gale was speaking, but she showed not the slightest intention of engaging in dialogue.
Just as the Tin Knight was planning to force his way through the encirclement and take the enemy commander's head…
Fshaaaaaa!
Far in the distance, an emerald pillar of light descended.
At the intense wave of holy power emanating from it, the denizens of the underground, one and all, showed expressions of extreme rage and disgust.
And the Tin Knight, too, realized who was there.
Because the remote mana supply, which hadn't been functioning properly due to the great distance, was faintly reconnected.
That's right.
The Tin Knight's contractor. The black witch.
Dorothea Aschengard was where that light had fallen.