Chapter 49: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 49: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork (8)
You tilted your head at Sophia's question.
The 'you' Sophia was referring to was probably the 'Tin Knight'.
In other words, Sophia was asking about the era when the Tin Knight was active.
Or when he was human.
You decided to be honest.
[The 'Tin Knight' replies that he doesn't know either!]
It was true that you had inherited the Tin Knight's power, but most of it was skewed toward combat-related elements.
The combat techniques etched into your body, the experience and insight of a warrior—those remained, but you hadn't inherited the Tin Knight's memories or knowledge. So, naturally, you couldn't answer questions about his life.
“Oh, my.”
Sophia covered her mouth with her hand.
It was a somewhat exaggerated gesture, but it suited her perfectly.
“You have no memory?”
[The 'Tin Knight' confirms this!]
“I see. ‘The soul of a human placed in a magic doll often suffers mental abnormalities, unable to overcome the disconnect from its original body.’ Just as I read in a book.”
[The 'Tin Knight' insists that he is perfectly fine!]
“Isn't memory loss also a symptom of abnormality?”
Hmm, you paused for a moment.
That wasn't the reason you had no memory, but explaining it would be quite a hassle.
Besides, it seemed like insisting on amnesia would make things easier in many ways.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if she knows anything about his past.]
“I have my suspicions, but I'm not certain.”
[The 'Tin Knight' says that even a guess would be fine.]
“Hmm, to explain that, there's a place we need to stop by… Ah, I see it now.”
At Sophia's words, you turned your gaze.
While some minor details were different from what you remembered, a generally similar building stood there.
If you had a sense of smell, you might have been able to detect the scent of paper, ink, and dust.
“Well then, shall we go in?”
Sophia smiled, standing before the largest bookstore in Tik-Tok.
*
“What? You want to read a book here now? Hey, c'mon. Don't give me that crap! I was hoping to get one last customer before closing, but then some weirdo shows up.”
The owner's incredibly blunt reaction, as if asking if they were messing with him...
...changed to this: “Oh my, please, take your time. There are chairs here, feel free to use them. Hmm? Am I not closing? Haha. It's quite all right. It's been a while since I pulled an all-nighter to read a book myself! Hahaha!”
All it took to change his tune was a single, heavy leather pouch.
You were puzzled by Sophia's action of casually handing over half the funds she had borrowed from Dorothea.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if that isn't too much!]
“To read a book for a pittance is to devalue the knowledge contained within it. Of course, expensive doesn't always mean good, so one must be flexible depending on the situation.”
Sophia winked and picked up a book.
It was a book on languages recommended by the owner.
Sophia began to focus on the book without a word, and with nothing else to do, you started looking around the bookstore.
You thought that since you had the chance, you might as well read an interesting-looking book, but…
[The 'Tin Knight' laments that he can't read!]
You needed to at least know what was written on the cover to even begin choosing a book, but everything just looked like scribbles. There was nothing you could do.
It wasn't like when you made the contract with Dorothea, where someone explained the contents to you.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks what coming here has to do with his past!]
[The 'Tin Knight' points out that it's rude to suddenly start reading in the middle of a conversation!]
[The 'Tin Knight' tries to get her attention!]
No response.
No matter how many protest messages you sent, Sophia showed no reaction, merely concentrating on her book.
It was a stark contrast to Dorothea, who would immediately react if you sent three messages in a row when she was nearby, telling you to be quiet because it made her head ring.
With no other choice, you settled in a corner and decided to practice your mana manipulation.
You needed to familiarize yourself with the various parts that had changed when your mana circuits were improved.
About forty minutes passed like that.
“Hmm. I think I've got the gist of it.”
Sophia straightened up.
After returning the language book to its original spot, Sophia pulled out another language book from the same row and began reading it while standing.
Thinking nothing of it, you went back to your practice.
And ten minutes later.
Sophia swapped the book she was reading for another and began flipping through the pages.
You tilted your head.
The speed at which she turned the pages felt far too fast, no matter how you looked at it.
Before one page had even fully settled, the next was already on its way.
In less than ten minutes, Sophia, who had repeatedly taken out and put back three books, moved to the farthest corner of the bookstore and began to repeat the process with the books there.
“Hmm?”
The bookstore owner looked puzzled for a moment, but soon lost interest and looked away.
He seemed to think she was just skimming through several books to find one she liked.
You looked at Sophia's eyes.
Normally, a person's eyes move in a zigzag pattern, like a Z, when they read.
But even as she flipped through the pages ceaselessly, her pink eyes barely moved.
To put it more bluntly, it was as if she was just dotting each page, her gaze landing on it only once.
From the halfway point, she often started looking at both the left and right pages at the same time.
How should one put it?
It gave the impression that she wasn't so much reading the book as she was capturing the entire page in her vision. Just like a scanner.
“Hmm. Good.”
Sophia closed the book.
It was the last book in the store that Sophia hadn't touched.
Having finished your mana tuning and started devising a new training menu for Adelaide, you turned and stared intently at Sophia.
[The 'Tin Knight' complains, asking if she's finally done!]
“Hmm, are you angry?”
[The 'Tin Knight' asserts that anyone would be annoyed if someone suddenly became engrossed in a book in the middle of a conversation!]
“I'm sorry. I originally intended to resume our talk after reading only what was necessary, but it's been so long since I've held a book that I got carried away.”
[The 'Tin Knight' magnanimously declares that his generous self will forgive her!]
Dorothea would have called it bullshit, and Adelaide would have made a sour face without confirming or denying it, but Sophia simply smiled and affirmed coolly, “Thank you.”
You were a little disappointed that you didn't get the sharp reaction you were hoping for.
“Well then. Shall we continue our earlier conversation?”
Sophia's gaze briefly shifted toward the owner.
After confirming that the bookstore owner, sitting at the counter, was dozing off, Sophia spoke.
“As expected of a city famous for producing magic dolls even within the Empire, there are quite a lot of related books. The manufacturing methods and detailed tricks seem to be treated as trade secrets and were appropriately hidden, but the basic structure and characteristics were well introduced.”
Sophia approached a bookshelf, stroking the cover of one of the books as she spoke.
“‘The core of a magic doll is an element called an artificial, or synthetic, soul. This intelligent device, which can be created by a craftsman or mage who can handle mana, was developed for the purpose of creating an obedient and versatile familiar, in place of homunculi that are strongly influenced by the nature of their base animal, finicky and arrogant spirits, or vengeful spirits full of resentment for the living.’”
Sophia's hand touched another book.
A new passage flowed from her lips.
“‘A synthetic soul can be called the brain of a magic doll. The higher the creator's skill, the more superior its thinking and judgment abilities. In the early stages of creation, it can only show extremely passive movements, but a synthetic soul that has accumulated a lot of experience will sometimes act voluntarily. Whether to judge this as growth or as a functional disorder due to the accumulation of unnecessary information is a matter of differing opinions among experts.’”
The next book. And the next.
“‘There are several theories about who first developed the synthetic soul, but the most prominent one is that it originated from the Tower of Protection, one of the magic towers of the Magic State Aeolia.’”
“‘A synthetic soul is a magical entity and requires mana to maintain its existence. A synthetic soul that is not supplied with mana will begin to evaporate, and while this speed can be somewhat slowed in a dormant state, there is still a limit.’”
The vampire, who, like you, couldn't read a single letter before entering this bookstore, seemed to have crammed the contents of every book in the store into her head in just a few hours.
“Quite a variety of content, isn't there? However, among all these books, not a single one contained the information I was hoping for.”
Sophia moved away from the bookshelf and leaned her face close to yours.
Her pink eyes glittered with a strange heat.
“—The origin of magic dolls. ‘Where’ they were first made, ‘when’ they were made, and ‘why’ they were made.”
Sophia pointed a finger at your breastplate—or more precisely, at the vessel containing your soul within it.
“I'll give you the answers. Where were they made? The Kingdom of Ionia. When were they made? During the Dark Ages. Why were they made? Because they were necessary. To survive against the enemies that threatened humanity, they had to secure military power, even if it meant sacrificing human souls.”
[The 'Tin Knight' wonders who these enemies were!]
“I'm afraid I can't answer that.”
Because I was sealed away for investigating that very thing, Sophia said playfully.
“Using human souls as material for magic dolls was a taboo of taboos even when I was human. The era when that was most common was the Dark Ages, roughly five hundred years before I was sealed, which would be about a thousand years ago from the present. So, I thought if you were from that time, Sir Tin, you might know something… but if you have no memory, I suppose it can't be helped.”
[The 'Tin Knight' is shocked, asking if that makes him a thousand-year-old piece of junk!]
“Well? That was just the era when they were ‘most commonly made.’ It's possible you're from a later time.”
You crossed your arms and leaned back.
[The 'Tin Knight' grumbles that this has only raised more questions!]
[The 'Tin Knight' demands a clear answer!]
Sophia laughed brightly at your complaint.
“I agree. That's why I plan to keep investigating.”
—Even if someone finds it inconvenient.
Her low mutter lingered strangely in your mind.
*
“Hm? Oh, are you all finished? Haha, thank you for your patronage.”
The dozing shopkeeper gave a bright smile when you said you were leaving.
He looked relieved that he could finally get some proper sleep.
The streets were dark.
When you had first entered the bookstore, a few shops, including the pubs, had still been open, but now even those were closed.
Then again, aside from special cases like the City of Pleasure, which was openly geared toward entertainment and tourism, just working a few extra hours after sunset was commendable.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if she's ready to prove her usefulness!]
“To some extent. The rest is just a matter of gathering information by visiting crowded places. If I become a walking map and encyclopedia of trivia, don't you think Miss Dorothea will find me useful enough to keep around?”
[The 'Tin Knight' assesses that a navigator is indeed useful!]
On the way back to the inn.
—...Klaaang...
A faint metallic sound from afar stopped you in your tracks.
You turned your head.
—...Chaaang... Thwack... Thud...
There was no mistake.
In the darkness where everyone slept, someone was fighting.
And from the sounds, it was a battle of many against many.
Your eyes lit up.
You had a flash of premonition: a side quest.
The problem was, Sophia was with you…
“Sir Tin. Let's go. I'm curious to see what's happening. Ah, we'll be too slow at my pace. It would be even better if you could carry me.”
You stared at Sophia.
[The 'Tin Knight' warns that it could be dangerous!]
Sophia replied.
“Well, since I can't die and you can't lose, shouldn't it be fine?”
You fell silent.
Those were the words of a true madwoman.
In other words.
[The 'Tin Knight' expresses his agreement with Sophia's words!]
It was exactly to your taste.