The Tin Knight-Chapter 38: The Tin Knight and The Hanging Sinner (1)

The gazes of the woman hanging on the pillar and the party met.

Pink eyes stared at the Tin Knight, Dorothea, and Adelaide in turn.

For someone who had been trapped and suffering for countless years, those eyes were serene—too serene.

Eyes were vessels that held emotions and windows to the soul.

Yet her eyes didn’t contain pain and resentment, nor did they reveal hostility and hatred.

Like a reader who found a rare book hidden in an old library.

Like a scholar who discovered a new species for the first time.

Like a child just before opening a gift box.

The woman observed the party with eyes full of curiosity and intrigue.

Receiving her gaze, each member of the party had different thoughts.

The pure-hearted Adelaide felt relief.

The woman didn’t seem to be suffering as much as expected, nor did she emit hatred or spit out curses filled with madness.

The sharp-minded Dorothea felt caution.

She knew kindness and interest directed without reason could be reversed without reason at any time. There was no guarantee that madness wasn’t hiding behind that curiosity.

The eccentric Tin Knight felt excitement.

A vampire sealed in the deepest part of the labyrinth. The situation screamed “boss battle”.

Since he had no stakes to deal with the woman before him, he thought he could borrow Dorothea’s wooden staff to stab it into the heart if needed.

One party member’s—no thing’s—mental state bordered on unhinged, it couldn’t be helped.

Just as mocking a bald person for being bald led to being mauled by a bear, expecting ethics and morality from someone without a heart was futile.

Holding these thoughts, the party confronted the vampire.

And then...

Nothing happened.

“...?”

Question marks appeared above the party’s heads.

The most impatient among the three was the Tin Knight, but since he had no mouth, Adelaide, who was second in patience, opened her mouth.

“Um, excuse me, Miss Vampire?”

The woman’s gaze turned towards Adelaide.

“Well, you’re not saying anything, so...”

Towards the hesitant Adelaide, the woman blinked her eyes once again.

“■■■■■■■?”

Finally, the woman’s mouth opened, and words leaked out.

But her words were incomprehensible to the party.

Realizing that her words weren’t understood by the party’s reaction, the woman fell into contemplation.

At least for now, there was no atmosphere of her breaking the seal and attacking the party.

“What should we do, Miss Witch?”

“What do you mean what should we do? She doesn’t seem to want to fight for now, so let’s just ignore her and look for the treasure.”

“What?!”

As if she hadn’t expected such an answer, Adelaide was shocked.

Dorothea continued with a cold attitude, “My original goal is to retrieve the eight treasures, the secret treasures of the kingdom. I’m conquering this labyrinth for that, not because I’m particularly interested in the labyrinth’s secrets. Whoever this vampire is, or why she’s sealed here, as long as she doesn’t attack us, there’s no need to get involved unnecessarily.”

“B-but, even so. She’s hanging there like that...”

“So what if she’s hanging? Are you going to free her? Are you willing to take responsibility if she attacks us after you do?”

Adelaide was at a loss for words.

Dorothea’s words were cold, but at the same time rational.

If one didn’t hit the grass, the snake wouldn’t jump out.

If it wasn’t necessary for one’s purpose, it was wise to pretend not to know and avoid unnecessary involvement to prevent getting caught up in unnecessary incidents.

However, there was one thing.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ objects, saying that’s wrong!]

There was one strange fellow here who wouldn’t be satisfied unless he created an incident even if there was none to begin with.

The Tin Knight couldn’t accept Dorothea’s reasoning.

While a player would even find and smash a hidden boss living quietly in deep mountains without causing harm to others, it was unacceptable to just ignore something that looked like a boss popping up in the main quest.

“What’s wrong with it?”

Dorothea showed a crooked reaction.

Her grip on her staff tightened, signaling her will to smack some sense into him if he continued to spout nonsense.

The Tin Knight tried to include the caution of a bomb disposal squad... but then just gave in to desire and shouted.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that he wants to fight the vampire!!]

Clang!!

Dorothea’s staff ignited with flames.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that he can take responsibility if the vampire attacks!]

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you need to fight when it’s not necessary. Whose mana do you think you’re using to fight?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests the possibility that it might be a friendly vampire that doesn’t need to be fought!]

“You just said you wanted to fight. Are you just saying whatever comes to mind now?”

That was correct.

Judging by the Tin Knight’s “common sense”, the possibility of a vampire sealed in such a place like this being a non-combat personnel was, if not zero, extremely slim.

To avoid the nightmare of skipping an enjoyable boss battle, the Tin Knight started to use his head, which he rarely used as he usually lived by momentum.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out that there’s nothing else useful to be seen around!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that they’ll need the vampire’s help to get clues about the treasure anyway!]

“Hmm.”

Seeming to find some merit in this point, Dorothea crossed her arms and fell into thought.

This was the deepest part of the labyrinth.

Apart from the pillar the woman was tied to, no other structures were visible, and there were no treasure chests either.

In other words, the whereabouts of the kingdom’s secret treasure that Dorothea sought remained elusive.

The goat that was supposed to act as a guide had been smashed by the golem’s hands, and it seemed none of the souls in the cage knew information about this place, leaving no other source of information.

The goat would probably revive after some time passed, but it was awkward to just wait here in the meantime, and decisively, given the earthquake earlier, it was unknown when new adventurers might barge in.

“...Even so, if we can’t communicate, there’s no way to get information anyway, right?”

Dorothea’s response was still grumpy, but her voice had softened considerably.

Confident that this direction was correct, the Tin Knight pointed to the brooch he had.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that communication would be possible using the ‘Voice of Guidance’!]

“That’ll only make it so she can hear your words, no... I see. That might be enough.”

Even if it was one-way, if they could correctly convey their intentions, the rest wouldn’t be difficult.

Even just being able to nod up and down would be enough.

“Well, alright. There’s no harm in trying once.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ praises it as a wise decision!]

Having finally obtained permission, the Tin Knight looked at the woman.

Due to her being tied up at a considerable height, it seemed difficult to make contact directly.

The Tin Knight was about to call Dorothea but changed his mind and spoke to Adelaide.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ requests a demonstration of how to use the brooch!]

“Huh? Ah, I see. Leave it to me!”

Adelaide showed enthusiasm, clenching both hands.

Using the Tin Knight’s back as a foothold, Adelaide stood up on the Tin Knight’s shoulders.

It was quite a precarious posture, but perhaps due to her innate sense of balance, she didn’t fall.

The vampire watched this scene with an interested gaze.

“Um, Miss Vampire? Please watch this carefully.”

Saying this, Adelaide poured mana into the brooch she had received from the Tin Knight.

Dorothea, who was behind, thought, “Even if you say that, that vampire won’t understand,” but she kept it to herself. It was the witch’s own kind of kindness.

Above all, she might need to activate defensive and counterattack magic at any moment, so there was no leisure to be distracted by unnecessary things.

“Did you see? This is how you do it.”

After demonstrating the process of golden mana entering the brooch and the brooch flashing as it absorbed the mana several times, Adelaide looked at the vampire’s face.

When the vampire nodded, Adelaide brought the brooch to the vampire’s body.

After a few seconds...

Seeing no particular movement from the vampire, Adelaide tilted her head.

Wondering if perhaps she couldn’t use mana, Adelaide observed the vampire, who had a serious face as if concentrating on something.

Finally, mana leaked from the woman’s body.

It was a vivid red, not unworthy of the title of vampire.

However, the amount was extremely small.

It looked as if she had squeezed dried sand with all her might to somehow produce a single drop of water.

The brooch that touched the mana glowed with a red light and...

Whoosh!

The next moment, the thorny vines around suddenly grew and wrapped around the pillar.

A sudden ambush.

However, the response of the Tin Knight and Dorothea, who were already on guard, was swift.

Grab.

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The Tin Knight’s left hand firmly grasped Adelaide’s ankle.

“Huh.”

The Tin Knight then flung Adelaide to another place with all his might.

A shrill scream rang out, but the Tin Knight was a vicious battle maniac—no—a good teacher who trusted his pupil.

This was why he had asked Adelaide, not Dorothea, to climb up in the first place. Adelaide would surely survive on her own.

After ensuring Adelaide was safely out of range, the Tin Knight wielded his sword without hesitation.

Along with dance-like movements, the sword flurried, cutting down all the thorny vines sweeping around.

The vines left on the ground tried to regenerate and counterattack somehow, but Dorothea’s curse poured down on them.

The thorny vines that had been glossy with red blood rapidly dried up and shriveled.

It was a perfectly synchronized combo attack, but the problem came next.

Whether the pillar had been integrated with the thorny vines from the beginning, or whether it had been gradually eroded over the long years, when all the thorny vines died, the pillar also began to shake and collapse.

Recognizing that the direction the pillar was falling was towards Dorothea, the Tin Knight kicked off the ground and embraced Dorothea, shielding her with his own body.

The bodies of the Tin Knight and Dorothea rolled on the ground.

With a crash, the pillar hit the ground, and a boom echoed as sand dust rose.

“Cough, cough.”

Dorothea, who had inhaled a lot of dust, got up with an irritated gesture.

Thanks to the Tin Knight’s quick response, there were no wounds on her body.

The scene in the room had changed miserably.

Blackened, dried-up dead thorny vines. A collapsed pillar. And blood seeping from under that pillar.

At the death of their only source of information, Dorothea muttered, “Haa. When things go wrong, they really go wrong.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ points out it’s too early to conclude death!]

“What are you saying? Even if vampires have excellent regenerative abilities, that’s too much... isn’t it?”

Dorothea’s voice trailed off as if losing confidence.

From beneath the rubble, someone was trying to claw their way out.

The clothing worn was rags itself. The arms and legs were bent in bizarre directions, and due to the ominous bleeding, there were more parts dyed bright red than intact areas.

And even those wounds were regenerating at a rapid pace right before Dorothea’s eyes.

Curly light green hair flowed down like waves.

The eyes, somewhere between pink and red, were soaked in ecstasy.

The vampire took a step forward.

The Tin Knight stepped forward to face her.

The fateful confrontation between monster and knight...

Thud.

...did not happen.

The vampire just fell forward and collapsed.

The triumphant Tin Knight froze in place.

Dorothea’s gaze changed to one of looking at something absurd as if thinking, “What’s this now?”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

Adelaide, who had returned at some point, approached the vampire.

It was so swift that there wasn’t even time to warn her of the danger.

After examining the vampire’s complexion and overall condition, Adelaide simply said, “It looks like anemia.”

Silence fell.

Dorothea questioned, “A vampire with anemia?”

“Yes. Sometimes in the knight order, we get patients with severe blood loss, and it feels just like this.”

“...Well, I guess so. Since all the blood seems to have been sucked dry since ancient times, vampire or not, it makes sense to be short on blood.”

Laughter escaped from Dorothea’s mouth.

It was laughter that went beyond anger or bewilderment, now in a “whatever happens, happens” sort of way.

She spoke to the Tin Knight with resignation, “Well? Aren’t you going to fight? Your long-awaited ‘boss battle’ is right in front of you. Just stab her and be done with it.”

The Tin Knight’s blue eye light alternated between Dorothea and the vampire.

With a thud, the Tin Knight knelt down and placed both hands on the ground.

His back was enveloped in tremendous melancholy.

Mourning the evaporated boss battle, the Tin Knight wept.