The Tin Knight-Chapter 79: The Tin Knight and The Land of Deep Green (9)

Once upon a time, in a fairly distant past, there was a father and daughter.

The father was a scholar with vast knowledge. Many people showed him respect and admiration.

The daughter was a hideous monster with a terrifying appearance. Many people directed disgust and contempt towards her.

Acquaintances advised the father to abandon his daughter. They said there was no connection between that monster and the father.

‎

The father shook his head. He insisted that his daughter was not a monster, just a little different.

People couldn’t understand the father’s desperate attachment to a monster that wasn’t even his own flesh and blood.

People thought the father had gone mad, or that the monster had bewitched him with evil powers.

Some thought there was merit in the father’s words, but they didn’t dare voice it

A monster was a monster. Heaven had decreed it so.

No matter how wise the father was, no matter how excellent his character, as long as he violated the taboo set by heaven, he was but a mere sinner.

The father tried to persuade people using everything at his disposal, but people, fearing of being treated the same way, distanced themselves.

The fear and disgust directed at the daughter began to spread to the father as well.

The pressure from the surroundings intensified day by day. Looks of respect turned into sneers filled with contempt.

The father finally had to admit that his daughter couldn’t live among humans.

The father began preparing many things so that his daughter could live alone.

By the time the mountain-like fortune showed its bottom, the preparations were finally complete.

The father and daughter fled together to a place untouched by human feet.

Using tools commissioned from skilled witches, they created a new sanctuary.

So that no one could approach. So that no one could harm them.

The plan succeeded.

The father and daughter achieved peace.

A peace that they didn’t know how long would last.

“...Finally, I can see the end.”

Dorothea exhaled deeply.

Fissures were scattered all over the lake bottom, and their perspectives varied.

It was like reading a book where Chapter 8 came after Chapter 1, and Chapter 4 after Chapter 8, so it took quite some time to organize the content.

The last remaining one was a particularly large fissure in the center of the lake.

Dorothea slowly stepped forward toward it.

Moving forward and forward.

It was just as Dorothea’s staff was about to make contact with the fissure.

“—Oh my.”

With a strangely calm voice, Sophia suddenly pushed Dorothea.

Just as Dorothea lost her balance and was pushed to the side.

Thud.

A chilling sound of flesh and blood being pierced echoed.

A green tentacle-like thing that had sprung from the ground made a large hole in the center of Sophia’s chest.

Dorothea couldn’t call out Sophia’s name.

The lake water, which had been blocked by the air bubble until now, engulfed Dorothea as the bubble was pierced and burst.

As if seizing that gap, a second tentacle’s strike rushed towards Dorothea.

Dorothea, who had suddenly become drenched, couldn’t react in time.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that direct attacks are forbidden!]

So instead of the witch, the Tin Knight reacted.

The Tin Knight’s sword mercilessly cut the two tentacles that had just pierced Sophia and were now trying to pierce Dorothea.

As if even that wasn’t enough, he surrounded the steel sword with a terrifying energy and then brought it down towards the ground.

Swoosh!

A huge crack appeared at the lake’s bottom.

And something like green fluid that leaked out from between that crack mixed with the lake water and spread like paint.

The Tin Knight showed a momentum as if he was about to launch a follow-up attack for a moment, but upon seeing Sophia and Dorothea floating underwater, he withdrew his sword.

Firmly grasping Dorothea’s waist with his right arm and Sophia’s with his left, the Tin Knight called out to Adelaide.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ tells Adel to hold on tight!]

“...!”

Adelaide, whose eyes had widened, unable to adapt to the sudden change in the situation, followed the Tin Knight’s instructions almost instinctively.

She clung tightly to the Tin Knight’s neck.

Bang!

The Tin Knight’s legs pushed strongly against the ground.

As if running on flat ground, the Tin Knight dashed across the lake’s bottom.

Mana overflowed from the Tin Knight’s entire body.

Being careful not to blow away the companions touching his body, the Tin Knight spewed mana wildly towards the rear, using that propulsion to sprint.

Thudududu!

[The ‘Tin Knight’ requests additional mana!]

Although she couldn’t even open her eyes properly, let alone breathe, due to the speed that was more like being fired than running, Dorothea fulfilled her role.

As Dorothea’s mana flowed into the Tin Knight, his movements accelerated even more.

In the blink of an eye, the Tin Knight reached from the center of the lake to the edge, and then hopped up the steep slope leading to the surface with just his two legs.

Swoosh!

The party, which had become one mass, burst out from inside the lake towards the ground.

With a heavy thud, the Tin Knight landed on the ground and set down his companions.

“Cough, cough!”

“Ptooey.”

“...Phew.”

Dorothea coughing and spitting out water, Adelaide spitting out the magic pebble in her mouth with a slightly cute sound, and Sophia lying on the ground catching her breath.

After confirming that all the companions were safe, the Tin Knight tried to rush back into the lake, but there was no need.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The ground was shaking.

No, the entire forest.

The Garden was screaming.

With a roar, the lake bottom itself began to rise, but the amount of water overflowing was extremely small.

The reason was simple.

The “something” that newly revealed itself was greedily sucking in all the water.

Adelaide rubbed her eyes as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, then muttered blankly, “A tree...?”

That was right.

It was a gigantic tree.

However, unlike ordinary trees where only the leaf part was green or verdant with a brown trunk, the tree in front of the group was almost entirely close to green in all parts.

Moreover, only some of its roots were buried in the ground. The remaining roots were writhing like snakes.

It seemed that these were the tentacles that had just pierced Sophia.

It was such a bizarre sight.

It was such a hideous sight.

It was such a threatening sight.

And, and.

It’s beautiful...

It was so beautiful.

Adelaide stared blankly at the tree.

Her fear was only momentary.

The more she looked, the harder it was to come to her senses due to the beauty the tree possessed.

Just looking at it made her feel ecstatic and at peace.

Her tense body naturally relaxed, and the strength left her hand holding the sword.

It wasn’t just Adelaide who was intoxicated by its beauty; various animals that had been hiding in the forest rushed out one after another towards the tree.

The tree swung its tentacles, piercing the animals running towards it—sucking their blood.

The animals died with faces expressing happiness.

At the top of the tree, several fruits began to form.

They were deep red fruits, like pomegranates.

Adelaide thought even those fruits were pretty.

Enveloped in a soft, sweet feeling, Adelaide walked towards the tree.

And then Dorothea mercilessly struck the back of her head with her staff.

Whack!!

“Ouch!”

Adelaide clutched her head and fell to her knees.

Tears welled up in her eyes from the pain.

Adelaide protested, “Why, why did you hit me!?”

Dorothea replied as if dumbfounded, “Never mind that, just eat this.”

Dorothea held out a small pill to Adelaide.

Adelaide asked back, “You should at least tell me what it is. No, I’ll eat it well!”

Seeing the Tin Knight exchange glances with Dorothea and start to loosen up, Adelaide threw the pill into her mouth, forgetting all about her questions.

It was much better to take it with her own hands than to be roughly “medicated” by the Tin Knight’s hands.

Whatever ingredients it was made of, the pill began to dissolve quickly as soon as it touched her mouth.

It didn’t taste as strange as she thought.

No, in fact, the taste itself was close to tasteless, but perhaps due to its strangely refreshing scent, it seemed like something good to eat when feeling drowsy.

Dorothea said, “Do you still want to go there?”

Adelaide blinked her eyes a few times, then looked towards the “there” Dorothea mentioned—that was, towards the tree.

There was a monstrous tree bearing terrible red fruits while indiscriminately eating those who approached it.

“Kyaaah!”

Adelaide screamed, but for a different reason than when she was hit by the staff earlier.

“I, I-I—what on earth?” frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Adelaide was confused.

She couldn’t believe the thoughts she had just had.

Beautiful? Pretty? That thing?

“It seems to be emitting a scent with hallucinogenic effects. And it’s incredibly powerful, taking effect in just a few seconds,” Sophia, who had somehow gotten up, explained.

The penetrating wound on her chest had already been neatly healed.

Although her clothes still had a hole in them.

Sophia said with a puzzled look, “Is that tree the green child? Or is it one of the devices the child’s father prepared to protect his daughter?”

“What that is can be dealt with later, the important thing is that it doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting us go,” Dorothea replied gruffly.

Her gaze was directed at the tentacle part of the tree, and those tentacles seemed to be particularly watching Dorothea.

When Dorothea took out the animal compass from her pouch, that reaction intensified even more.

Dorothea clicked her tongue softly.

“You don’t like things from the Sky Kingdom, huh? I don’t know how much bad blood you have with ‘heaven’... but we don’t intend to just take it either.”

Was it as if it had heard Dorothea’s words?

Or was it just a coincidence in timing?

The deep red tree fruits began to fall to the ground one by one.

A squelching sound echoed.

Covered in liquid that was hard to tell whether it was blood or fruit juice, the creatures inside the fruits revealed themselves.

There was a deer with numerous tentacles sprouting from its back.

There was a wolf dripping something like plant sap from its mouth.

There was a snake whose entire body had become like translucent leaves, its insides clearly visible.

Monsters that seemed like a wild mix of animals and plants appeared around the group, revealing their killing intent.

Ten, twenty, thirty.

As more and more animals voluntarily let themselves be eaten by the tree, the number of “fruits” growing on the tree increased as well.

Faced with this overwhelming quantity, Dorothea struck the ground with the end of her staff.

As black mana spread through the forest, about to summon an undead army, that was when it happened.

《────》

A wave-like sound, similar to singing but difficult to perceive properly with human ears, canceled out Dorothea’s mana.

Dorothea’s eyebrow twitched.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks what’s not working well!]

“The necromancy is being interfered with. I think I could manage if I directly exert force up close, but remote control like we’ve been doing until now is impossible.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says it’s fine to increase the number of corpses for sacrifice, but he needs to deal with the boss, so he’ll leave the mob handling to Adel!]

“Huh? Ah, yes! I’ll do my best!”

Although Adelaide looked a bit dumbfounded, when given a clear role, she gathered her determination as if she had never been confused.

“Then I suppose I should do some work, too.”

Sophia stepped forward.

Her entire body was enveloped in a light cluster like white flames.

As Sophia extended her hand, the white flames settled on the Tin Knight’s and Adelaide’s swords.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ is satisfied with the holy attribute enchantment!]

“Fufu. I’m glad if you like it.”

Although she was smiling, Sophia’s complexion was extremely pale.

Sizzle.

Moreover, the burning smell rising sharply from various parts of her body seemed to indicate an enormous backlash even at a glance.

Even compared to the penetrating wound from earlier which had healed quickly, this one was regenerating much more slowly.

Dorothea frowned.

“...Why on earth would a vampire make holy magic their specialty?”

“What about you, Dorothea? With your overflowing mana, you would have been much stronger if you had chosen a different school, no?”

“I can’t help it if this is what I learned.”

“I didn’t particularly acquire this after becoming a vampire, either.”

While exchanging brief words, the two didn’t let down their guard against their surroundings.

Adelaide, for her part, took deep breaths repeatedly and grasped her sword with both hands.

After confirming that the three had formed a formation.

The Tin Knight took a battle stance and shouted.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares the field boss raid!]