The Tin Knight-Chapter 57: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork — Act 2 (6)

When a person touched something hot, they’d instinctively pull their hand away saying, “Ouch, it’s hot!”

This reaction stemmed from the hand sending an urgent signal to the brain, warning that if one kept touching this, something bad would happen.

But what if the brain ignored that signal?

Moreover, what if the spinal cord, which acted as a middle manager, ordered to remove the hand immediately without considering the details, but the brain stubbornly ordered it to go back and touch it again?

What if it kept saying to hold on to it regardless of whether it was hot or not—after all, it wasn’t its concern?

It would surely lead to disaster.

The soft, fluffy palm wouldn’t end up just being warm—it would end up golden brown and crispy.

This was precisely the plight faced by Stromboli’s on-site workers.

“What? You want us to watch them work and only bring in the skilled ones?”

The headhunters couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the instructions from above.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t understand the meaning of the directive itself. It was more rational than just telling them to bring everyone in like before.

But.

“...How are we supposed to observe the work process?”

If it had been at the early stages of construction, it might not have been an issue.

At that time, the focus was on external construction, so most workers were moving around outside, working away.

But now?

The building exterior was already over ninety percent complete, with only finishing touches remaining. Most workers were inside the building.

As long as the building walls existed as an obstacle, it was impossible to observe the interior unless the headhunters suddenly developed x-ray vision.

If the Stromboli Company had a constructive and healthy corporate culture, such anguish from the field workers would have reached higher up and requested new orders, however..

“That’s for you to figure out how to do. Isn’t that what you’re getting paid for?”

Unfortunately, Stromboli’s corporate culture was far from healthy.

No, on most days, it was relatively healthy, but now? How could it be healthy when the “Master” was grinding his teeth, saying he had to finish off that bastard Smith?

The middle managers, who had previously made suggestions similar to this a few times and only received scathing remarks from the master in return, ignored the suffering of their subordinates to avoid further scolding. Even when some conscientious middle managers attempted to escalate the issue to the upper levels, they found themselves blocked by higher middle managers and failed.

The headhunters had to find a way somehow while cursing “shit, shit” under their breath.

Sneaking in directly was impossible due to the two knights, one gray and one white, patrolling around the building.

Trying to observe from afar with telescopes was also impossible due to strange black smoke-like haze filling the areas near the windows.

The headhunters, who had to produce some results, eventually opened their own wallets to hire a mage.

“Please do your best.”

“Hmm, consider yourself lucky to have found me. Even within the Empire, those who can use both clairvoyance and farsight magic are extremely rare.”

“Yes, of course.”

The headhunters inwardly gritted their teeth at the mage who put on airs despite being hired for money, but they held their tongues.

After all, the mage’s words weren’t lies.

The majority of imperial mages were of the Wizard type, and while they excelled at destroying enemies on the battlefield, few bothered with the finer art of utility magic.

The reality of the Empire’s magic world was that there were many who would rather invest time in increasing the power of their fireballs than learn minor auxiliary magic.

“Well then, shall we begin?”

As the mage stretched out both hands into the air, a large ring made of mana and a slightly smaller ring appeared side by side in front of him.

A moment later, the scenery of the street began to appear inside the large ring.

The headhunters let out exclamations of admiration at the sight that looked as if they were seeing it right in front of them, despite being far away.

At least it seemed their money hadn’t evaporated into thin air.

With a wave of the mage’s hand, the small ring in front of the large ring began to move around, and the scenery reflected in the large ring changed accordingly.

Soon, the farsight magic reached their target—the newly constructed workshop.

“Good, now I’ll add the clairvoyance magic here.”

As the mage conjured a new spell, the thick wall disappeared and beyond it...

“Huh?”

...nothing was visible.

For the first time, cracks appeared on the mage’s smug face.

As if to dispel the puzzled gazes around him, the mage cleared his throat repeatedly.

“Ahem, just a moment.”

The mage drew up even more mana.

The magic he had honed for decades finally pierced through the wall this time.

And.

“Gaaaaaah!?”

Immediately after, the mage suddenly had a seizure, clutched his chest, and collapsed.

“Uh, uh?”

“Are you alright? Try to come to your senses!”

The headhunters called out to the mage in confusion, but the mage couldn’t easily regain consciousness with foam in his mouth.

The only fortunate thing was that there seemed to be no danger to his life.

The headhunters exchanged glances.

They simultaneously recalled the same scene.

Just before the mage collapsed, the rings had briefly shown something—black stains and strangely glowing characters filled the entire view.

To the headhunters’ report, their superior clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, got yourselves scammed, huh? How are you going to manage with such poor judgment? What? Business support expenses? You idiots blew company money on your own and are now demanding for the company to cover it?”

Truly, words of strength and encouragement.

With their superior’s words warming the depths of their hearts to the point of setting them ablaze, they, too, made their decision.

Let’s just write down a random list and send it. They’re all the same, anyway.

I should look for a new job.

And thus, the Stromboli Company welcomed a batch of newly recruited, “extremely excellent” employees. The existing employees groaned in “admiration” at the newcomers’ “outstanding competence”.

Regardless of anyone’s opinion, the construction steadily progressed.

And finally.

The Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop newly opened its doors.

***Charles Stromboli spoke, spitting out the words with blazing eyes, “Tell the workshops under us to lower the prices of all products.”

“When you say lower, to what extent?”

“Isn’t it obvious!? Lower than those damned bastards’ shop! Lower them so much that travelers visiting Tik-Tok won’t even glance at their shop!”

“Master, if it were just a branch of two, that’s one thing—but if we do this in all workshops, the impact on sales will be enormous!”

The subordinates were anxious.

The supposed “skilled” workers they had poached were all useless duds, and no matter how much time passed, they couldn’t fulfill their roles.

The existing employees, who would normally have scolded and pressured them to teach them work, had long since given up on this matter due to the upper management’s order to “avoid doing anything that might upset the new employees if possible” and their own resentment at seeing those worse than themselves receiving better treatment. The newly hired employees were either just killing time while watching their surroundings or even putting on airs, as if they were something special.

The headhunters, who had been called “incompetent fools without any discerning eye” despite their desperate efforts, now openly showed poor attitudes and didn’t hide their intention to quit if things went wrong. The finance department managing the company’s funds wailed that there were no more reserve funds.

Even if we go this far to drive Smith Geppetto’s workshop into the ground, what exactly does our company gain?

It’s not like all our workshops will immediately go bankrupt just because his shop opened. Our location and recognition are much more advantageous.

Even if they somehow succeed, we’d only lose a fraction of the market. Wouldn’t it have been much more profitable to just leave them alone?

Of course, it wasn’t that Charles didn’t know this fact.

Although his background as a count’s bloodline played a significant role, Charles did have the minimum capacity as an owner leading a company.

But that was exactly why Charles couldn’t stop here.

After things have escalated this far, if it ends without any results, I’ll have to take all the responsibility...!

If the Stromboli Company had been built from the ground up by Charles’ own abilities alone, it might have been different, but this was clearly an organization with a proper owner, the Stromboli Count family.

Charles’s older brother, Count Stromboli, was the type of person who’d rather cut Charles off when responsibility issues arose. He’d then settle public opinion within the company and appoint a new head. It wasn’t like there weren’t other figures in the count’s family, after all.

Obsessing over sunk costs was a shortcut to ruin, but with his position as company head at stake in those sunk costs, Charles couldn’t withdraw from this matter whether he liked it or not.

“I’ll give you this, Smith. You’re the first to corner me like this. I underestimated the blade of revenge you’ve been sharpening for over a decade. But in the end, I’ll be the one with the last laugh!”

It was fortunate that Smith had never heard these words.

If he had heard it, he probably would have just had a question mark over his head.

***Smith Geppetto and Charles Stromboli.

The once-in-a-lifetime match between these two men! Let’s just ignore the fact that one side didn’t even know the match had begun.

Due to Charles’s final gambit, an untimely festival broke out in Tik-Tok.

“Come one! Come all! A once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy the best products at the lowest prices!”

“Our Stromboli Workshop Branch No. 1 has decided to start a shocking service to repay the support of our valued customers who have patronized our company!”

“An unparalleled opportunity to get magic dolls that can be used for guarding, labor, odd jobs—anything you need! Even if you’re not a mage, you can become the master of a magic doll by using this exclusive mana battery!”

Kumara, an adventurer listening to the enthusiastic sales pitches of the Stromboli employees, asked Magia, the mage in his party, “Could non-mages always use magic dolls?”

“Technically, they can use them.”

“Your tone is full of implications?”

“Even if they call it a battery, it’s still a consumable. Ordinary people don’t have the skills to handle mana, nor do they have enough mana to move a doll. Sometimes there are people who naturally have a lot of mana without training, but those cases are rare. In the end, every time the doll stops moving, they’ll have to buy a new battery from the shop. At that point, it’ll just be cheaper to hire a mage than to bear that cost.”

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Magia added, “Magic dolls are too expensive in production and operation costs for mass production, and too inefficient compared to the resources invested for high-end use. There’s a reason the Empire doesn’t adopt them as a primary force.”

“I see. In other words, they’re mediocre.”

Kumara nodded, then turned his gaze to look in a certain direction.

“Then are those two also mediocre?”

Looking at the two knights in the direction of Kumara’s gaze, Magia answered simply, “Don’t bring up special cases when I’m talking about generalities, you idiot.”

***Unlike Albert, which was surrounded by towering city walls, the City of Clockwork, Tik-Tok, had no walls to speak of except for the lord’s castle in the center.

But even Tik-Tok had a place that could be called the city’s “main gate”, and there were checkpoints and guards protecting that place.

One guard asked the captain, “Is it really okay to cooperate with this?”

“What’s the problem? It’s not like they’re doing it on their own. They even politely asked for permission in advance. Besides, cooperation just means watching from the side,” the guard captain answered, recalling the blonde girl in a white dress with a polite yet bold atmosphere.

“Won’t Stromboli make a fuss?”

“Let them if they want to, I’ll happily flip them off. I’ve had enough of those nobodies putting on airs. Ah, what I wouldn’t give to see them get a taste of their own medicine for once.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

The guard also agreed with the captain’s words as he recalled the image of the Stromboli Company sneering about why guards were needed when magic dolls could replace guard duties, anyway.

Whether heaven heard the guards’ wishes or not, passersby on the street also began to stop and whisper when they saw “that sight”.

“What’s that? They’re holding weapons, isn’t it dangerous?”

“It should be fine, since the guards are watching nearby.”

“There are a lot of tools, is it some kind of show?”

When it seemed enough attention had gathered in front of the Tin Knight and the White Knight.

Sinc Geppetto, co-owner of the Smith & Sinc Workshop, tensed her stomach and raised her voice, “Ladies and gentlemen! Our Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop is celebrating our grand opening! To commemorate the occasion, we’ve prepared a special performance, so please come and watch!”

Saying this, Sinc threw the daggers she was holding in both hands to each of the two knights.

With two clanging sounds, a sword and a spear deflected the daggers.

When the daggers that had soared high into the sky were about to fall to the ground, the sword and spear moved again, bouncing them high into the sky.

Sinc continuously tossed in new daggers, and each time, the number of daggers soaring into the sky increased.

Sometimes the daggers flew in odd directions, perhaps because Sinc herself wasn’t well-versed in this kind of thing, but the two knights never faltered

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

With rhythmic metallic sounds, the daggers kept rising into the sky and falling back down.

Faced with this strange juggling performed by sword and spear, the passersby’s eyes widened.

“Wow, how is that possible?”

“Their skill is no joke!”

The two knights performed this technique, which looked difficult even while standing still, effortlessly while walking forward.

Then, the Tin Knight pointed at one passerby with his empty left hand.

“Huh?”

The pointed-at passerby was flustered, but when the Tin Knight repeatedly pointed at a suitably sized stone at the passerby’s feet and then at himself, they soon understood the meaning.

“You want me to throw this?”

The Tin Knight’s head moved up and down.

The passerby hesitated a little, but soon carefully tossed the stone.

With ease, the Tin Knight batted the stone into the air.

The stone seamlessly joined the juggling parade of daggers.

The cheers from the surroundings grew louder.

The Tin Knight’s gaze turned towards the White Knight.

At first, the White Knight showed no particular reaction, but someone in the crowd shouted towards the unresponsive White Knight, “Sig! Don’t lose!”

With that shout, a shiny glass bottle flew towards the White Knight.

Everyone expected it to shatter, but as the White Knight gently moved his spear, the glass bottle soared skyward—unbroken.

By this point, the audience was also getting excited.

“Catch this too!”

“Here, this one too!”

“Wait, please! Everyone! Please calm do—eek!?”

Like children enchanted by the sound of a magic flute.

The enormous crowd began to move forward, following the two knights—no, magic dolls towards the Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop at the end.