The Tin Knight-Chapter 23: The Tin Knight and The Lions Bloodline (6)

...No, no. It’s not certain yet if there’s a treasure in this city. It’s entirely possible that this city just happened to be on the way!

I’m grateful for the training, and I have no right to complain since I walked into this of my own accord, but still, couldn’t you show a little mercy? Sob.

Dorothea and Adelaide were each deep in their own complicated thoughts.

[The 'Tin Knight' hums a cheerful tune while looking at the new city!]

You were thrilled.

You couldn’t help but be.

The source of dissatisfaction you had been feeling inwardly was resolved.

The dissatisfaction you felt was that there were too few elements for growth.

It made sense—the “Tin Knight” was already a completed warrior.

Combat experience so profound that it was impossible to guess how many years it had been accumulated was etched deep into the body.

Extreme combat skills and insight derived from that experience.

Of course, you, the one handling this body simultaneously in reality and from outside the monitor, and the original owner—who had entrusted this body to you—were not the same person, but that didn’t make the knight any weaker.

You were in your own way someone seasoned in this kind of game, and the discrepancy between the character controlled by mouse and keyboard and reality was adjusted by “you” who had inherited the Tin Knight’s experiences.

In terms of software, you were already a veteran among veterans, so all that remained was to level up the hardware side, but in reality, there was no experience point system, no status window to invest points in, nor any equipment with its attack stats listed.

Well, the last one might exist in some form that wasn’t visible, but that was beside the point.

If you were to try physical training, your body was a lump of metal. The more you used it, the more it would wear down, not get stronger.

In other words, you were in a state where physical growth was blocked.

If you thought of it as a LV1 restriction or beginner equipment restriction, this could be enjoyable in its own way, but in terms of content, you couldn’t help but feel unsatisfied.

At one point, you even considered focusing on Dorothea’s growth since the quest given by the Tin Knight was to protect her.

Unfortunately for you, Dorothea wasn’t the type to fixate on strength.

To be more precise, she was the type to handle her own needs without outside interference, so there wasn’t much you could do to assist her growth.

From the start, your job was Knight, and Dorothea’s was Witch.

Neither the you within the Tin Knight nor the you outside the monitor knew anything about magic, so there was nothing to teach.

Then, before your eyes appeared a newbie who said she would do anything to become stronger.

Moreover, she didn’t come to you just for growth’s sake—she brought along sub-quests for you to clear along the way.

How could you possibly resist this?

Unlike her appearance, which suggested she had never lifted a heavy load in her life, Adelaide was remarkably resilient.

No matter how hard you pushed her, she would wake up fine—though her expression was twisted from muscle pain and fatigue, you didn’t pay it any mind—after a night’s rest.

She didn’t even succumb to colds or diseases, which usually accompanied those who had a drastic lifestyle change.

It felt like a gift given to you from heaven to roll as you pleased.

The Tin Knight’s excellent insights were also skilled at discerning the limits of others, and you actively used this ability to squeeze Adelaide to her limits.

It was incredibly rewarding as a master to see her visibly grow—obviously, you didn’t mean it in a noblewoman trainer kind of way.

[The 'Tin Knight' urges the party to secure lodgings quickly!]

“...I haven’t said we’re staying here yet.”

[The 'Tin Knight' argues that between resupplying and waiting for the Animal Compass’ cooldown, staying here is an inevitability, not a choice!]

Dorothea’s expression was full of dissatisfaction, but she didn’t deny your reasoning.

She acknowledged what needed to be acknowledged even if she had clear likes and dislikes, and didn’t force things. This was one of Dorothea’s strengths in your opinion.

Dorothea’s gaze turned to Adelaide.

Perhaps wanting to escape from the hellish carriage training even for a moment, her round eyes were full of moisture and desperation.

Although she seemed reluctant, Dorothea finally nodded.

And so, you entered the city.

***The kingdom might be mocked as a land of idle elders recounting old tales while sitting in armchairs, or a haven for foxes playing gangster in the corner while tigers and bears growled at each other, but in terms of territory on the map, the kingdom was by no means small.

Just Albert, that paradise for criminals, was technically part of the kingdom’s territory.

The real issue was the kingdom’s influence.

If the territory labeled under the kingdom on the map was a 10, the territory that was properly controlled by the royal family was a 4, which was all near the capital region.

As for the remaining 6, it was every man for himself.

To put it more extremely, each domain was a small nation, and the lords were its kings.

Domains with good quality farmland grew their power based on massive harvests and population, those with ore veins diligently developed mines, and some grew into trade centers by leveraging their geographical location.

However, not all domains were born with such blessed environments.

Lowefelt, the city where the Tin Knight’s party set foot was no exception.

Lowefelt had no outstanding resources, no exquisite location, and no specialty products with high scarcity value.

Moreover, its rugged terrain made transportation inconvenient, and its surroundings teemed with magic beasts.

It was like an environment where if one pressed the random start button in a city management game, one would be given a land full of every possible misfortune as their starting domain.

Yet, Lowefelt thrived anyway.

The nickname “City of the Right Hind Leg” guaranteed its prosperity.

More precisely, it was “Lowefelt, the City of the Lion’s Right Hind Leg”, but citizens who knew the virtue of abbreviation and compression usually preferred the former title.

The origin of the name was simple.

There were only five Lennart dojos on the continent.

If one connected each of their locations, it formed the shape of a giant lion, and this city corresponded to the right hind leg.

Questions like, “How can connecting five points make a lion?” were as meaningless as the supposed shapes of constellations.

Of course, a certain witch who was in a bad mood didn’t care whether this was the city of the right hind leg or the right hind leg’s ankle bone.

“I’m going to rest in the lodgings, so do whatever you want with dojo conquering or whatever.”

Leaving only those words, Dorothea shut herself in her room.

Adelaide was restless at this sight, but the Tin Knight remained calm.

[The 'Tin Knight' urges Adel to hurry and go challenge the gy—dojo]

“Um, is this okay? The witch doesn’t seem to like me visiting the dojo, maybe I should quietly wait...”

[The 'Tin Knight' insists that if Dorothea really disliked it, she would have said so directly without beating around the bush!]

At the Tin Knight’s words, Adelaide fell silent.

Considering Dorothea’s words and actions that she had experienced so far, it wasn’t wrong.

However, even so, Adelaide still had lingering concerns.

“But, I’ve only been properly training for about two weeks now, can I have my skills recognized at the dojo with just that much?”

[The 'Tin Knight' points out that nothing will start unless we first understand the content of the test!]

“That’s... true, but...”

[The 'Tin Knight' reassures Adel that even if she fails, she can try again!]

“Oh, that’s right!”

Adelaide’s face brightened.

It was as the Tin Knight said. After all, what was important to her was to build as much achievement and skill as possible within a year.

Unlike actual combat, failing here would simply mean retrying—not a catastrophic loss.

She could retry as many times as needed.

[The 'Tin Knight' says not to worry even if Adel fails!]

[The 'Tin Knight' declares that he has prepared a special training course for passing!]

“Ah. Yes. I see. Ha, haha. Wow. How joyful.”

The intonation disappeared from Adelaide’s words, and the light vanished from her eyes.

Opportunity to try again, my foot.

If she failed, only death awaited Adelaide.

Feeling as if her shoulders had become even heavier, Adelaide started trudging along.

***“By the way, where is the dojo?”

Adelaide tilted her head.

Having lived a life where it was natural to have a guide when moving somewhere, the concept of “finding her own way” was foreign to Adelaide.

While she might know her way around the Friedel domain where she was born and raised, there was no way she would know the geography of a city she had just entered.

[The 'Tin Knight' advises that if one doesn’t know the way, it's best to ask others!]

After nodding at the Tin Knight’s words, Adelaide looked around.

Since the number of people who could hear the Tin Knight was limited, Adelaide had to ask for directions herself.

Adelaide approached a nearby shop owner.

“Excuse me, may I ask for directions?”

“Huh? Oh!”

The shop owner, who had made a grumpy expression upon hearing the words “ask for directions”, soon recognized Adelaide and gasped.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

It wasn’t just because of Adelaide’s beauty, which still exuded nobility despite being dressed like an adventurer.

Golden hair and violet eyes.

There was no way a merchant doing business here in Lowefelt wouldn’t know the significance of this.

“Oh my, welcome. Young Lady. You said you’re looking for directions?”

“Ah, yes. I want to go to the Lennart dojo, where should I go?”

“For that, just follow the main street ahead to the right. You’ll see a building with a flag bearing a lion.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Oh, it’s nothing!”

As Adelaide was about to move on, grateful for the merchant’s courteous attitude, shouts echoed.

“”One-two! One-two!””

As the shouts grew louder, the pedestrians walking on the main street all started moving to the sides.

And a moment later, the source of the commotion revealed itself.

“”One-two! One-two! One-two!””

“Paulo! Your voice is too weak! Guff! Your feet are out of sync! How can you be staggering just from running this much, do you even deserve to be called disciples of our dojo?! Answer me!”

“We’re sorry!!”

In the middle of the city, dozens of sweat-doused men were sprinting down the main street.

Despite this action that could be called collective visual terrorism or obstruction of traffic, the citizens weren’t particularly surprised or displeased.

They just waited calmly for the men to pass by as if it were a common occurrence. Some even offered words of encouragement.

Seeing Adelaide blinking in surprise, the merchant chuckled.

“Hehe, looks like you haven’t been in this city for long.”

“Yes. What was that just now? Are they the knights of Lowefelt?”

“They’re not knights, but they’re similar. They beat up thieves, beat up magic beasts, and do basically everything knights would. Those are the disciples of the Lennart dojo.”

“I see.”

Adelaide looked at the backs of the disciples running far away.

Her expression became wistful.

Adelaide’s hometown also used to have many knights and soldiers devoted to training like that.

Sadly, after Adelaide’s father passed away, such sights became rare.

The Tin Knight stood beside Adelaide.

[The 'Tin Knight' questions whether they really need to do this on a busy road where many come and go!]

[The 'Tin Knight' points out that while men might think sweating profusely makes them look cool, to others it usually looks gross or unsightly!]

“Pfft.”

Caught off guard, Adelaide burst into laughter.

The merchant made a puzzled expression at Adelaide suddenly laughing, but she didn’t notice.

“Y-you’re right. It’s good to run, but there was no need to do it in a place like this.”

[The 'Tin Knight' insists that to uphold the honor of the Lion Duke's bloodline, a formal complaint must be lodged!]

Adelaide nodded.

And then she realized.

Dorothea sometimes said that when the Tin Knight used unfamiliar terms, she could roughly grasp the meaning. Now, Adelaide thought, “Ah, so this is what she meant.”