The Tin Knight-Chapter 51: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork (10)

Originally, the one who best understood someone’s abilities was often their adversary rather than the person themselves.

After all, it was the one who had been hit that knew how much a punch hurt, not the one throwing it.

In that sense, Kumara’s group highly evaluated the pursuers’ skills.

At the very least, they were top-tier among the bronze rank. Not a few among them were even silver rank in ability, and their numbers were by no means small—around twenty in total.

Considering that silver-ranked adventurers were usually compared to knights of an ordinary domain, the guild had practically dispatched a quasi-knight-order-level force for this mission.

Then, what of the opponent facing this formidable force...?

Slash! Thud! Crack!

“Arghhhh!”

The single, deranged knight was mercilessly crushing this force.

This is ridiculous.

Kumara let out a hollow laugh.

Honestly, he had thought it was already impressive that the three of them alone had managed to “fight” against such opponents, but this Tin Knight was not only holding his own single-handedly but was actually carrying out a one-sided massacre.

“Somehow he seems even stronger than when we saw him in the labyrinth. Was there even a need for us to come help in the first place?”

After chopping down an enemy in front of him with his axe, the warrior Sitar spoke dejectedly, to which Kumara replied with a sour expression, “How do you know if he’s gotten stronger when we didn’t even fight back then? Besides, the fight’s not over yet.”

“There’s something called presence that only warriors can feel. If we intervene in ‘that’ now, we’d just be a hindrance. I’d rather not get cut down along with them.”

At Sitar’s words, Kumara looked to the front again.

He had to admit it.

“...You’re right, we’d probably just get in the way if we interfered unnecessarily.”

A literal one-strike one-kill massacre.

It wasn’t just about skill—the way he decisively ended each person’s life without mercy or hesitation made Kumara feel goosebumps rising up his arms.

He could understand Sitar’s feeling of not wanting to get involved by meddling from the side.

While Kumara’s party recognized the Tin Knight’s side as allies, they couldn’t be sure the feeling was mutual.

“At first I thought the guild had gone overboard with their response, but now I see it was the opposite. Well, I guess they didn’t expect the opponent to be this strong either.”

Whoosh!

As if deciding the tides of battle were turning unfavorable, some of the pursuers tried to sneak away, only to be struck down by white mana bullets.

Judging by how she kept glancing at the Tin Knight, Magia seemed a bit frightened as she spoke, “He’s stronger than gold rank, no?”

“He does seem stronger than the leader of Red Gold. I’ve never seen the leaders of Blue Gold and White Gold in action, so I can’t say if he’s for sure stronger than them.”

“Is this the time to be ranking who’s stronger? Men, really.”

“Hehe. Well, ranking debates are part of human nature. It can’t be helped.”

“Even so, there’s a time and place for...”

Huh? Something’s off.

With a strange sense of discomfort, Magia turned her head to the side.

There was a woman who had somehow joined the conversation, smiling gently.

“Eek!”

With a short scream, Magia quickly retreated and hid behind the men. In other words, she used the two as shields.

“Ahem.”

Kumara cleared his throat with a fake cough and then greeted, “I’m Kumara, a silver-ranked adventurer and currently acting as a messenger for the Halder Company. Are you... companions of that knight over there, by any chance?”

There was a peculiar lack of confidence when he uttered the word “companions”.

Well, considering the woman’s appearance when she first showed up, slung over the knight’s shoulder like luggage and then thrown to the ground, it wasn’t unreasonable.

Whether aware of this suspicious gaze or not, the woman calmly replied, “I’m Sophia Hubris. I’ve only recently started traveling with Sir Tin’s party.”

“I see.”

A member who joined after they left the labyrinth? Maybe she’s from this city.

Kumara naturally made such assumptions.

It was beyond Kumara’s imagination that the person in front of him was a vampire who had been sealed in the deepest part of the labyrinth they had frequently entered and exited.

Clank.

With heavy footsteps, the Tin Knight approached after finishing his fight.

The pursuers who had faced the knight were all rolling on the ground. Judging by the depth of their wounds, it seemed unlikely they would get up again.

Good thing we kept one aside beforehand.

After glancing at the one pursuer he had captured at his feet, Kumara spoke, “Since the story might be a bit long, shall we move somewhere else first?”

The thick darkness covering the sky was slowly fading.

No matter how remote this alley was, if multiple corpses were discovered in a pile, it would inevitably cause a big commotion.

They needed to hurry before that happened.

***The place the group went to was the inn where Dorothea and Adelaide were staying.

Kumara replayed everything that had transpired so far to them.

That the Adventurers Guild was fabricating the incident and trying to pin it on Dorothea’s party.

That the purpose was likely the treasures discovered in the labyrinth.

That the Halder Company was preparing to fight against the guild’s unjust demands and also wanted to “protect” Dorothea’s party.

“Master Lorentz wants you to evacuate to the southern part of the Empire. If it’s Perdia, the headquarters of the Halder Company, even the guild won’t be able to act recklessly no matter how strong they are. We need to start moving quickly before they realize what happened to their pursuers and make new moves.”

“Who said we’re going there?”

“Huh?”

Kumara was dumbfounded by Dorothea’s response.

Regardless, Dorothea grumbled with a deeply furrowed brow.

“What’s with this and that person deciding other people’s whereabouts as they please? I’ll decide where I go. Who are they to tell me to come and go?”

“Wait, hold on. Are you in your right mind? The guild is after your lives!” Kumara shouted in confusion.

His carefully maintained businesslike attitude shattered in an instant, and his usual adventurer speech came out.

Of course, this didn’t make Dorothea change her words.

“So, if we go there, what then Will the guild suddenly apologize saying, ‘Oh, we’re sorry. Actually, we fabricated everything. We’ll quietly turn ourselves in and bow our heads’? Or will all the incidents be resolved at once, overturning everything just with your and my testimony?”

“That’s...”

Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

It was unclear why the guild had committed such reckless actions, but it was obvious that they wouldn’t back down easily after moving so boldly.

Therefore, the Halder Company’s goal was clear.

To secure Dorothea’s party to prevent the guild from manipulating the incident as they pleased, and to continue the standoff in that state to obtain “concessions” from the guild side.

That process would likely be a very tedious political and public opinion battle.

During that time, Dorothea’s party would have to be kept under control.

Kumara could fully understand why they didn’t like that.

However.

“Then what are you going to do? I understand that the current situation is unreasonable from your perspective. But there’s no other way to face a huge organization like the guild, is there? Or maybe...”

Kumara’s gaze turned to Adelaide, who was standing nearby with a blank expression.

Golden hair and violet eyes. Even as a mere adventurer, Kumara knew the power and status of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.

If the girl in front of him actually held an important position within the bloodline, and Dorothea was counting on that...

“Uh, eh? Uh? Ah, no. I’m not...” Adel, seemingly realizing the implication, stuttered in a fluster.

It was true that her hometown, the Friedel domain, was a highly valued domain, but if asked whether the current Friedel, which had lost most of its main force compared to its prime, could stand against the guild, one could only tilt their head in doubt.

No, even if she had the ability, Adel didn’t have the authority to move it, so it was impossible for her to be of political help.

“I never expected anything of her in the first place,” Dorothea cut off that speculation in one stroke.

Ignoring Adel, who was shrinking while muttering, “That’s sad in its own way...” Dorothea continued, “Let them come if they want to. Whatever the reason, once they’ve drawn their sword first, it’s the witch’s way to pay them back in kind. I’ve been trying to avoid fights and moving nicely according to the rules, but they took me for a fool.”

As if responding to Dorothea’s complaints, the knight beside her nodded his head.

Somehow, he looked very excited.

Faced with this extremely belligerent master and servant, Kumara was at a loss for words.

They’re much more dangerous than I thought.

If it were possible, he wanted to kidnap them and take them to the company by force, but considering the Tin Knight’s overwhelming, it simply wasn’t feasible.

On the other hand, he couldn’t just let them do as they pleased either. The moment Dorothea’s party was defeated by the guild and gave the “testimony” they wanted, Kumara’s party would be finished in one go as well.

It was truly an unwelcome shared fate.

“But, is the Adventurers Guild really the enemy?” at that moment, Sophia, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, stepped forward and asked.

Dorothea retorted with a frown, “They attacked us, didn’t they?”

“But these people here are also adventurers, aren’t they? The Adventurers Guild seems to be quite a large organization, so I think there might be quite a few people who would oppose this incident if we look for them.”

“How can we distinguish each one of them?”

“We don’t necessarily need to distinguish them ourselves. What’s important is the ‘justification’ that this incident is not right. Power struggles always occur within large organizations, and an easily understandable justification is the weapon most favored by politicians.”

Sophia continued, “If we can just find out who benefits the most within the guild when this conspiracy succeeds, the next step is to give justification to those who oppose that someone. Then they will spread the story on their own, disparaging the opponent and biting into their flesh with all their might.”

“What if it doesn’t go as planned? What if they’re all in cahoots and there’s no opposition?”

“Wouldn’t that be good in its own way, as it means there are ‘no innocent victims’?”

“Hmm.”

Dorothea made a nasal sound.

“Not bad. I like that we can get revenge for sure without being tied down.”

At last, their course of action was decided.

The first victim of the group became the pursuer who had been captured alive while all his comrades were killed.

“Ha! I have nothing to say to you! Just kill me instead!” the pursuer, tied up with rope, shouted with a somewhat solemn air.

It wasn’t that he had some extraordinary loyalty or had received professional training to endure pain that made him so bold.

The one fact he believed was...

No one else was captured alive besides me. If there’s no testimony from me, it’ll be troublesome for these guys, so they can’t really kill me or torture me to the point where I can’t speak properly!

That was right.

It was like the meta of a malicious debtor who, knowing the other party couldn’t collect, yelled that they had no money and dared them to try collecting.

That was the source of the pursuer’s confidence.

To this, Dorothea replied, “Oh? You have nothing to say?”

“That’s right!”

“Then die.”

“Huh?”

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“Hey, Tin Can, cut off his head. If he won’t talk while alive, well, we can just make his soul talk after he’s dead.”

“Uh? Wait! Hold on! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!! So don’t come closer, eek?!”

Faced with the wicked witch and her deranged familiar, the pursuer quickly surrendered.

Watching this scene, Kumara muttered with a blank expression, “Guys. Are we perhaps screwed?”

“...”

“Haa.”