Chapter 61: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork — Act 3 (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork — Act 3 (3)
The final list of candidates was as follows:
René von Lennart: 25 people.
Gerhardt von Lennart: 18 people.
Adelaide von Lennart: 7 people.
René was already a well-known, influential figure in Tik-Tok, and the dojo he ran was exceptionally public-friendly, so many chose his side without hesitation. Generous rewards and kind service were the basic elements for gathering people.
As for Gerhardt, he had a frightening and strict reputation, and the rumors about him weren't exactly favorable, but the overwhelming martial prowess he displayed more than made up for it. Not only that, but a good number of adolescents found Gerhardt's rough and violent demeanor cool and looked up to him.
And what about Adelaide? No lengthy explanation was needed. A pretty face was sometimes the answer to everything.
Ernest, a vassal of the Tik-Tok family, thought to himself.
‘My lord has started a dangerous game. This is troublesome.’
To be sure, the letter from Duke Lennart stated, "I leave the appointment of the representative instructor to Count Tik-Tok."
Interpreted literally, this meant the Count could hand over the position of representative instructor to anyone he wished.
However, letters between nobles were about more than just their literal content; the surrounding context was crucial.
Inserting a third party, aside from the main contenders René and Gerhardt, was an act that could easily be seen as a provocation against the Lennart Ducal House.
Fortunately, for some reason, both Gerhardt and René seemed willing to let Adelaide participate in the competition. If they hadn't, the conflict within the Lennart family might have escalated into a fight between Lennart and Tik-Tok.
As a subordinate, Ernest wished his lord would refrain from such dangerous games, but he also realized that was unlikely to happen.
His lord was a man who couldn't resist something fun.
And right now, before Ernest's eyes, was that very "fun opponent."
"I am Ernest, and I will be serving as Lady Adelaide's assistant for the next week."
As Ernest bowed, the golden-haired girl stammered, returning the greeting.
"Oh, yes! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
The sheer artlessness in her every expression and gesture made Ernest give a wry smile inwardly.
No matter how he looked at her, she seemed more suited to be a student than an instructor.
Considering the prestige of the Lennart dojos, the fact that such a small girl was participating in a competition for the right to represent one was almost comical.
"You may use the lodgings, training weapons, and training grounds within the castle. They are what the domain's soldiers use for training, so their quality should be more than adequate. Of course, if you have prepared your own equipment, you are free to use that as well."
These facilities had originally been prepared for René and Gerhardt, but since both had refused, their purpose had been left hanging.
It was half-expected from René, who had his own dojo, but Gerhardt's refusal was somewhat surprising.
Gerhardt was living with his subordinates in a large mansion he had rented on the outskirts of the city, so it seemed he intended to use that instead.
"Ah, yes, please. We're staying at an inn, and it would be a bit difficult to bring everyone there."
"Understood. Is there anything else you require?"
"Um. Not particularly—"
Mid-sentence, the girl's head snapped to the side.
After a brief glance at the magic doll beside her, she turned her gaze back to him and spoke.
"Um, would it be possible to bring in things like food or medicine from the outside?"
"Medicine, you say?"
A look of puzzlement crossed Ernest's face.
If this were the Tin Knight's homeland, this would be like a team manager asking the organizers, "We're planning on doping our athletes, is it okay to bring in drugs?"
It was a request so absurd that one would first doubt their ears or assume a translation error, and upon realizing it was truly "drugs," would point a finger and ask if she'd lost her mind. Faced with such a preposterous request, Ernest opened his mouth.
"Do as you please."
There was no negativity in his expression.
On the contrary, there was even a hint of pride, as if thinking, 'Well, at least the girl is trying to do something.'
It was a limitation of an era where, let alone a World Anti-Doping Agency, even the concept of "doping is bad" was faint.
And so, the "witch’s mysterious medicine" was brought into the training grounds.
*
The first day of training.
"Ahem. Alright, everyone. I'm going to explain the training regimen now, so please listen carefully!"
"Yes, Teacher!"
"One of the seven will have a one-on-one mock battle with me! The other six will observe! Ah, and after your mock battle, the knight over there will correct your posture, so you have to do that too! Once we've gone through one round, we'll start over from the beginning! Does everyone understand!"
"Yes, Teach...er?"
They answered, but their voices trailed off uncertainly.
There were two main reasons.
‘...We're supposed to swing our weapons at that innocent-looking kid?’
‘And besides, isn't this training schedule a little too lax?’
Well, it wasn't as if she was making the outrageous demand (at least in their minds) that they all attack her 7-on-1, but repeating one-on-one fights in a wheel formation seemed just as awkward.
Besides, with this method, they could rest while waiting, but Adelaide would have to fight continuously.
An inefficient method where the instructor would needlessly exhaust her stamina while the students grew bored waiting.
Though they wondered if a different training method was needed, the students did as they were told and raised their weapons.
The young man chosen to go first quietly steadied his breathing.
He was a man true to his desires, enough to choose his teacher based on her face, but that didn't mean he was brainless.
'This young lady must be confident in her skills to suggest such a format.'
Anticipating agile attacks that would take advantage of her small frame, the young man gripped the handle of his wooden sword tightly.
The match began.
-THWACK!
The match was over.
About two seconds after the whistle signaled the start. Leaving the young man to collapse with a spectacular spray of blood from his nose, Adelaide declared.
"Next person, please step up."
The students' eyes shook in unison.
Thwack!
"W-Wait a minute! I'm not ready yet—"
Thwack!
"W-Wuaaaaaah!"
Thwack!
"No, but this training is a bit strange—"
Thwack! Thwack!
"H-Hiiieeeek!?"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"That's all for today's training! Great work, everyone!"
"Great... work... gack."
After squeezing out a final farewell, the last student still on his feet collapsed as if fainting.
The Tin Knight glided over to the seven corpses—no, students—sprawled on the ground.
Feeling the touch of cold metal hands and the ointment on their bodies, the students thought.
'I can't take this anymore.'
They had been knocked down by Adelaide's wooden sword dozens of times.
At first, they were hit before they knew what was happening. Then, they charged with grim determination. After that, they attacked out of sheer spite, but the result was always the same.
They cursed the thoughts they'd had before the match began.
What? The training was lax? They'd be bored while waiting?
The experience of watching the person ahead of them get beaten to a pulp while waiting for their own turn to approach was the most terrifying horror imaginable.
If their bodies had at least been broken, they could have used their injuries as an excuse to rest, but the damn ointment was so effective that even that was impossible.
What was even more terrifying was that this was only the first day of training.
"You all worked so hard today! Get plenty of rest, and tomorrow's training will start at 9 AM!"
Adelaide said goodbye with a bright smile.
The sight of her, which had once seemed merely cute and pretty, was now utterly terrifying.
The students exchanged glances.
It seemed a "drastic measure" was needed.
*
That night.
"The teacher's gone, right?"
"She was assigned a separate room in the lord's castle, so she won't come anywhere near us at night."
"We just need to get a message to the lord, or even one of his vassals. If we tell them we can't endure the training, the lord won't force us to continue."
"I feel a little bad for the teacher, though."
"Hey, are you trying to be the only good guy here?"
"We have to survive, don't we?"
"You girl-crazy bastard. I knew it from the way you were drooling whenever the teacher was near."
"Agh, you guys are nagging so much. As if you're any different."
Annoyed by the murmuring behind him, the young man at the very front snapped.
"Agh, shut the hell up, you bastards. You trying to advertise that we're out here?"
A sudden silence fell.
Seeing his companions' faces freeze as they clammed up, the young man felt awkward and said falteringly.
"Hey, I just meant we should be quiet. Why's everyone so serious over one comment? Huh?"
Only then did the young man realize his companions' gazes were not on him, but on something behind him.
With a creaking motion, like an old wooden doll, the young man turned his head to look back.
And the young man saw it.
In the dark of night.
The form of the Tin Knight, looking down at him with blue light scattering from its eyes like flames.
Scccrape. The Tin Knight silently drew its sword.
The students' faces turned deathly pale.
*
The three vassals gathered in the lord's office were each giving their reports.
"Lord René's side has assigned an instructor to each student for one-on-one training. They're having them gain practical experience against low-level magic dolls while the instructors correct their detailed posture and combat methods."
"Lord Gerhardt's side has focused entirely on basic physical conditioning all day. It will be difficult for their physical abilities to improve dramatically in a week, but it seems the goal is for them to learn how to move beyond their limits and develop a fighting spirit under extreme conditions."
"I see. It's interesting how their individual personalities are showing. Ernest, what about your side?"
At Count Tik-Tok's question, Ernest hesitated for a moment as if choosing his words before answering.
"...It is difficult to report anything definitive yet, sir. The training is still ongoing."
Just then, as if to prove Ernest's words, screams began to echo from the training grounds.
-Kkieeeeeek!
-Help me! Please, help me!!
-I have to get out of here—agh, aaack! Aaaaaaaah!
The vassals' expressions turned bizarre.
The lord let out a sound of admiration.
"Hoh? The moon is already shining brightly, yet they're all working so hard."
"Yes. Would it be best to stop them?"
At Ernest's question, the Count waved his hand.
"No, there's no need for that. We may prepare the stage for the contest, but interfering in the contest itself would be unfair. As long as it doesn't pose a great danger to this domain, do not interfere."
"Understood."
"It seems the young lady is a bit too full of motivation. If she pushes this hard from the start, I wonder if she won't be exhausted and collapse on the day of the match."
"Even the strict Lord Gerhardt was seen making adjustments to not cross any truly dangerous lines. I suppose her lack of experience can't be helped."
The vassals, chatting amongst themselves, did not know.
They didn't know that Ernest, who had taken a step back, was wearing an incredibly complicated expression.
*
The next morning. Adelaide, having finished getting ready, headed to the training grounds with a sense of unease.
'Was I too harsh yesterday?'
Adelaide was not a psychopath incapable of empathizing with others' pain.
She had shown some signs of it at the Lowefelt dojo, but that was the result of her threshold for violence having been raised too high after being tainted by a stagnant pool of expertise like the Tin Knight while she was extremely lacking in practical experience.
Now, she had gained some experience of her own and rationally understood that the Tin Knight's way of thinking—'if your head doesn't crack, it's training, not a real fight'—was problematic. (Emotionally, she hadn't quite grasped it. Who one takes as a teacher is just that important.)
She had swung her sword without restraint because the Tin Knight had told her she needed to show no hesitation, for both the students' sake and her own, but Adelaide wasn't so dense as to miss the subtle atmosphere among her students.
Today, I should conduct the training a little more gently and with more leeway.
With that thought, Adelaide stepped into the training grounds and was startled by an unexpected sight.
"Welcome, Teacher!!"
"Welcome!!"
Weren't all seven of her students waiting for her, their bodies held at sharp attention, their eyes filled with resolve, without a single exception?
Slightly taken aback, Adelaide opened her mouth.
"Ah, good morning, everyone. You're all so full of energy. Are you feeling okay?"
"We are fine!!"
"It is all thanks to you, Teacher!!"
"We look forward to another vigorous day of training!!"
"We are determined to become stronger!!"
The students' voices boomed.
Men from the Tin Knight's homeland might have seen this and felt a sense of déjà vu, reminded of the classic repertoire: "Have the trainees not eaten? Is that all the volume you can muster?" "No, sir!!" But of course, there was no way Adelaide would know anything of the sort.
Therefore, she said with pure joy.
"Alright! I'll do my best, too! Let's work hard together!"
"Yes!!"
In a corner of the training ground.
The Tin Knight watched them, looking pleased.