The Tin Knight-Chapter 9: The Tin Knight and The City of Pleasure (3)

This was the second time Ronnie Roxly had witnessed the Tin Knight in combat.

In truth, it would be a bit of a stretch to say she properly “witnessed” the first fight.

Night coveted the world, and Ronnie was bound—rolling helplessly on the ground. The sudden upheaval of events left her too preoccupied to leisurely observe anything.

While she understood intellectually that the Tin Knight was formidable after seeing the aftermath of his one-sided assault against the bandits, she hadn’t fully grasped it.

But now that she could properly see the Tin Knight’s fight, it was different.

“...”

Ronnie stared blankly, her eyes wide open—transfixed by the sight before her.

There were no special techniques or skills.

His attacks were all strikes using fists or elbows, and his defense could hardly be called clean, even as a courtesy.

The sound of scraping metal echoed intermittently, proof that he was taking some of the men’s blows with his very armor.

In a way, it looked like he was just rampaging, relying on the performance of his armor.

But Ronnie, who had long strived to become a knight, could see the truth.

What appeared to be wild, haphazard punches were precise blows to the enemy’s vitals. Conversely, the blades swung by the men were all subtly misaligned, failing to properly transfer force and merely grazing the surface.

It was a fighting style premised on facing multiple opponents from the start.

The Tin Knight’s movements were imbued with the ideology of reducing unnecessary waste, efficiently deflecting minor attacks, and channeling the energy saved to take down as many enemies as possible.

It didn’t take long for all the men involved in the altercation to end up sprawled on the ground.

The Tin Knight’s gaze turned to Ronnie.

Feeling as if the brightly glowing blue eyes inside the helmet carried a silent reproach, Ronnie unconsciously shrank back.

Thinking about it rationally, it was no wonder why he was displeased—not only did she merely gawk at the fight in a daze, she didn’t even move to provide aid. She was no different from the passersby.

“T-thank you for your help! And I’m sorry.”

The Tin Knight didn’t answer.

After waiting about 10 seconds for him to say something, Ronnie belatedly remembered that the Tin Knight couldn’t speak, or more precisely, that no one except the witch could understand his words. It was a foolish mistake, even by her own standards.

As Ronnie was berating herself, blaming her incompetence as to why she would always be nothing more than a mere page, the Tin Knight showed her some kind of gesture with both hands.

He pointed at one of the fallen men with his finger.

Then, he mimed opening and closing his fist near his mouth.

Finally, he gestured toward Ronnie, pointing above her head.

At first, Ronnie didn’t understand the meaning, but as the Tin Knight repeated the same actions several times, she soon grasped the intent.

“You want me to interrogate them and find out information about the young lady, right? Is that what you’re saying?”

The Tin Knight nodded.

Certainly, Ronnie understood.

It was obvious that the men who had been active in this place for even a day longer than them, who had just arrived in the city, would know more about the area and its inhabitants.

Unlike the two men Ronnie had initially cut down, the four that the Tin Knight had taken down seemed to be just unconscious, with no threat to their lives.

Ronnie couldn’t help but once again marvel at the Tin Knight’s ability to fight multiple opponents while being mindful enough to show such restraint.

The lingering concern was how to deal with the aftermath of committing murder in the middle of the street... but to put it simply, this too was easily resolved.

“Hey, ladies. Is it alright if I clean up those corpses lying over there?”

When one of the spectators who had been watching the fight spoke up like this, Ronnie thought the person was an acquaintance of the deceased.

She believed they were asking for permission to bury their friends.

But she was mistaken.

As soon as Ronnie nodded, the spectator approached the corpses, stripped them of their clothes and belongings, and unceremoniously tossed the bodies onto a cart as though they were common luggage.

It was an attitude that showed no respect for the dead whatsoever, literally treating them like objects.

Ronnie was so dumbfounded that she stood there with her mouth open even as the spectator disappeared, pulling the cart away.

Although the aftermath was dealt with without any extra effort, thinking about how those corpses would be processed left a very unsettling aftertaste.

Of course, there were good things too.

First, the men offered no unnecessary resistance and obediently answered her questions. Second, they knew information about the “young lady”.

While glancing at the Tin Knight waiting with his arms crossed in a corner of the room, the man with a large bruise on his face spoke, “If you’re talking about the guys who recently brought a large number of slaves into this city, it would be Colombo’s gang. They’re notorious for committing any kind of profitable crime without discrimination.”

It was quite a comical sight for a person who had picked a fight with an innocent woman to try and extort money to talk about notoriety, but that wasn’t important right now.

“Where are they?”

“There’s not holed up in one place. With their numbers, they’re scattered here and there.”

“Tell me about the ones you know!” Ronnie pressed with a strong tone.

The man, shrinking a bit at her imposing demeanor, which was quite different from her polite attitude towards the Tin Knight, answered, “T-there’s a place not far from here called the ‘Black Boar Inn’. I saw them partying there just last night.”

“How many of them?”

“Not sure on the exact number but it looked to be over twenty.”

Ronnie let out a sigh.

Twenty. It was a truly overwhelming force.

Though each of them was likely unremarkable individually, the very fact that so many criminals who thought nothing of killing others were gathered posed a significant threat.

Moreover, since even that was just a part of their total force, their overall numbers could potentially exceed a hundred.

...I expected them to be significant enough to openly attempt to plunder a decent domain, but I never imagined it to be to this extent.

Clank.

It was then that Ronnie, lost in thought, heard the sound of the Tin Knight moving.

“Sir Knight?”

Without answering Ronnie’s question, the Tin Knight approached the man with the bruised face.

“W-wait! I told you everything I know! The one who picked a fight with your group is already dead!” thinking the Tin Knight was going to harm him, the tied-up man shouted while struggling.

However, the Tin Knight grabbed the man’s shoulder and forcibly lifted him upright.

Then, with a firm pat on the man’s back, he nudged him forward.

“Huh? What?”

The man was perplexed at first, but soon, as if realizing something, he cautiously asked, “Don’t tell me you want me to guide you?”

The Tin Knight nodded.

“No, that’s a bit... If I’m openly marked by Colombo’s gang, who knows what they’ll do to me—ah, fine! I’ll do it! I’ll guide you!”

The man, who was about to make excuses, quickly changed his attitude as soon as he saw the Tin Knight’s hand move towards the sword at his waist.

There was a hint of a whimper in his voice, but thinking of it as his own karma, it wasn’t particularly a sight worthy of sympathy.

“Please wait a moment, Sir Knight. Surely you don’t intend to move right now?”

The Tin Knight nodded once again.

Ronnie hesitated.

They had just arrived in the city today, and it was already nearing evening.

Considering the impending darkness and the fatigue of their group, now wasn’t the ideal time to act.

But.

— Didn’t you say we need to rescue your young lady? Are you saying it doesn’t matter if she’s left captive for another day since she’s already been kidnapped?

Why had they gone through the trouble of using the side door to enter in the first place? Wasn’t it to rescue the young lady as quickly as possible?

They had even fought, gaining a lead as to where the young lady might be.

Is it truly “knightly” behavior to be satisfied and think that today’s work is done?

Impatience and haste were shortcuts to ruining a mission.

However, it didn’t feel right to just stay put here either.

Ronnie spoke to the Tin Knight, “Could you give me a little time? I’d like to recruit those among our group who are willing to move together. Those who came along because they had nowhere else to go, or those who came to reunite with family, that’s one thing... but I’d like to give those who joined for revenge the chance to enact it.”

The Tin Knight seemed to think for a moment, then crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.

It was an easy-to-understand sign that he would wait.

Ronnie bowed her head to the Tin Knight, then informed her companions staying at the lodging about the news.

Those who were about to rest after having an early dinner to appease their hunger seemed bewildered by the sudden news.

Some asked if they couldn’t just leave it to the knight, while others pleaded for a chance at rest before fighting.

However.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

There were clearly those who were ready to move at a moment’s notice, their eyes burning with determination.

“I couldn’t do anything in the previous fight, but this time will be different.”

“We’re going to get revenge on those trash, right? I’m in. I’ll kill them all.”

“I need to find my sister who was taken by the bandits. Please take me with you.”

“If it’s to rescue the young lady, of course I’ll join.”

Thus, a force of five, including Ronnie, was gathered.

Although their stance with weapons was clumsy, their resolve was undeniable.

“We’re ready, Sir Knight.”

The Tin Knight silently nodded.

Beside him were the four men who had been taken down by the Tin Knight, including the one who had provided the information.

Released from their ropes and even given back their weapons, they led the way, looking miserable but obediently.

It was the result of the Tin Knight mercilessly beating them whenever they showed signs of trying to escape or resist.

The Tin Knight’s gesture of a drawn sword across the neck made it clear: jeopardize the mission and your lives were forfeited.

Upon reaching their destination, they could see bandits noisily chattering while eating meat and drinking alcohol.

They seemed to be in the middle of dinner and were completely off guard, as if no one in this world could harm them.

The Tin Knight, drawing his sword and charging, thrust the sword into a bandit’s face without hesitation.

And so, the battle began.