The death knight’s body, cut by your swung sword, was pushed back greatly.

There was a large scar on its chest, but as if black mud-like energy filled the wound, the trace was filled in the blink of an eye.

You weren’t particularly surprised or disappointed.

Bosses with regenerative abilities were common, after all.

“Sir Knight…”

From behind, you heard your pupil’s voice calling you.

That voice was full of moisture.

It was a sound like a helpless child crying, similar to when you first met.

“When Father passed away, Mother said that it must have been an honorable fight. That he must have fought proudly for his lord, for his kin, to uphold chivalry, so we too must do our best. She said that while trying to hold back tears. Brother, too, desperately tried to fill that void, saying he would take his place.”

There was anger. There was grief. Above all, there was great despair.

“But what if that wasn’t the case? What if it wasn’t actually an honorable fight? What if they were just used in a dirty plot? Then, what about us? What are we supposed to…”

Your pupil was lamenting.

The girl, who had endured even the harsh training you imposed, was about to break under the weight of the past.

If it had been your past self, you would have brushed off those words without thinking deeply about them.

After all, it was just the story of a game.

You would have ignored it without properly appreciating it, dismissing it as a common tragedy that merely gave characters some narrative.

But now, you couldn’t do that so easily.

While still thinking that the deaths of enemies or their detailed circumstances didn’t matter, you couldn’t easily ignore or cut it off just because the subject was a companion.

You couldn’t just laugh off the stories of your companions as merely a game.

You maintained this stance, knowing full well that accepting this as reality would mean confronting the true nature of your existence here.

Against the anxiety slowly coloring your chest, you laughed heartily.

It felt like you could do that now.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that problems solved by beating up the root cause are rarer than you might think!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that however, instances where beating up the root cause makes you feel better are quite common!]

Cheerfully, frivolously, like a clown.

Making it seem foolish to seriously worry and lament next to such a character.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he’ll concede beating up the real root cause later, so leave this mid-boss to him!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he’ll prepare a strong opponent for his pupil later, so just watch from behind!]

As if to tell his pupil that her teacher never wavered, felt anxious, or fell into serious contemplation.

As if to convey, “Rely on me without hesitation for anything,” to his disciple.

《…■■■……!》

The death knight, stained with grudge, uttered words towards you.

It was clearly human language, but you couldn’t understand those words.

It sounded like the voice lines of several characters were overlapped and played simultaneously.

Seeing this, you fell into slight contemplation.

The movements shown by the death knight so far were very similar to those shown by Ronnie, the female knight who once requested Adelaide’s rescue from you.

Judging by Adelaide’s unusual reaction, it was clear that this death knight had some connection to the Friedel domain army said to have died here.

This was somewhat troublesome.

While you were skilled in combat, your other specialties weren’t particularly impressive.

The Tin Knight’s tactical plan already indicated that there was some core in the opponent, and cutting it would immediately end the battle, but such an ending seemed difficult to consider the best no matter how you thought about it.

Thud!

To state the result first, such worries of yours were unnecessary.

Swish.

A circle made of blood appeared, enveloping the surrounding area.

Dorothea, who had retrieved the dagger she used to cut her palm into its sheath, shouted while spilling blood so profusely it seemed she might collapse, “Hey, Tin Can! Do whatever it takes to keep that guy within this circle!”

You answered immediately.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ responds that he welcomes the challenge!]

Feeling Sophia, who had approached at some point, supporting Adelaide and taking her away, you charged towards the death knight.

The death knight tried to escape outside, perhaps sensing an ominous energy from the blood surrounding the area, but you had no intention of allowing that.

Clang!

《─■■■■■!!》

[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that you must play with him!]

***

“That’s a death knight, isn’t it? Why didn’t we notice until it got this close?” Dorothea frowned.

A being synonymous with powerful undead, rivaling liches.

One of the monsters that many necromancers wish to have as subordinates, but due to the extremely high difficulty of creation and control, it was extremely rare to see one in person.

Of course, Dorothea was an exception.

Her teacher had several, and Dorothea herself could make them if she wanted to.

It was just that they were excluded from Dorothea’s options due to her concern for her reputation, as they spread tremendous debuffs mixed with curses and pressure just by being present.

And knowing how to make a death knight meant, conversely, also knowing how to revert it to its state before creation.

“Miss Witch, that…”

“You don’t need to force yourself to speak, just sit and wait. But don’t lose consciousness. From what I see, the soul’s condition is quite bad, so it probably won’t last long even after separation. The time for conversation will be short.”

Adelaide quietly nodded at these words, cold in voice but warm in content.

Dorothea turned her gaze to Sophia.

“Sophia, can you wrap the separated souls in holy power?”

“You mean to protect them from dissipating? I’ll try.”

“Yes, just hold on until the ritual is over.”

With those final words, Dorothea closed her eyes.

As she began chanting spells in a low voice, changes occurred in the blood barrier surrounding the two knights.

Part of the barrier transformed into threads, stretching towards the death knight and attaching to its body.

The death knight tried to cut the threads as if annoyed, but the blood-made threads merely distorted their shape momentarily without ever breaking.

And shortly after, as if fishing from a lake, along with the threads, a blackened soul separated from the death knight’s body.

《─■■■! ■■!!》

As if this act was extremely painful, the death knight went berserk and extended its sword towards Dorothea.

Tentacles concentrated with curses rushed fiercely, as if to pierce through Dorothea’s body.

Dorothea didn’t open her eyes, stop her chanting, or dodge.

In her stead, the Tin Knight moved.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shouts that getting distracted is bad manners!]

The Tin Knight’s sword slashed through the air several times.

Sword strikes far from elegance or beauty, utterly crude and prioritizing efficiency.

However, as if their effect was absolute, the black tentacles were torn apart in an instant.

The black soul dragged out of the barrier struggled as if trying to escape somehow, but as time passed, the black color staining the soul gradually faded, turning white.

As Sophia clasped her hands together and offered a prayer, light emitted from her body gently enveloped the soul.

When Dorothea’s necromancy and Sophia’s holy magic collided in the same area, the two powers fluctuated as if repelling each other, but Dorothea’s blood barrier acted as a buffer, mediating between them, allowing them to coexist without issues.

After a while, new red threads attached to the death knight’s body.

The death knight tried desperately to escape outside the barrier or harm Dorothea’s party, but the Tin Knight thwarted all these attempts, forcibly holding the death knight in place.

《─■■■■!!》

Realizing that escape was impossible unless it could deal with the enemy before it, the death knight swung its sword with all its might.

The death knight’s attacks were fierce, having absorbed the mana and souls of several top-tier mages, and its skill, composed of excellent knights, was outstanding.

Above all, the Tin Knight had the restriction of not being allowed to defeat the opponent.

Clang! Clang!

However, the death knight’s attacks never reached the Tin Knight.

Sword strikes that could split even huge boulders in one hit were deflected as lightly as a gentle breeze.

The aura that made people’s knees weak and poisoned them just by being present caused no damage to the Tin Knight’s metal body.

Even when it unleashed magic attacks manipulating curses and mana like limbs, the Tin Knight responded calmly as if he knew all about it.

When it threw a punch, its arm was broken; when it tried to create distance, its foot was stepped on; when it attacked by emitting black tentacles like thorns from its entire body, it was kicked into the air just before activation.

Overwhelming.

That one word was enough to describe the Tin Knight’s skill.

Every time a soul was extracted, the death knight screamed as if in pain.

Perhaps because the core souls of the death knight were decreasing, its voice, which had sounded like mere murmuring, gradually began to change into something understandable.

《Don’t ■■ter ■ere!》

《The lord’s ord■■ must ■■…!》

《We must re■urn, no matter ■hat!》

Adelaide unconsciously took a step forward.

She desperately held back her body that wanted to rush towards the knight.

Because her teacher had told her to trust and leave it to him.

Because her benefactor had said this wasn’t the stage for her.

So, she stopped her feet.

Instead, she widened her eyes.

To watch this fight and engrave it in her heart.

The battle continued.

Numerous souls were separated from the death knight, and finally, only one remained.

The death knight, Friedel, screamed.

《Don’t stop me! I! We! Must return home!!》

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he doesn’t care about that and won’t let anyone who makes his pupil cry go unpunished!]

Whack!

The Tin Knight’s fist struck the death knight’s face with all its might.

The red thread extending near the falling death knight’s heart finally separated the last soul.

The death knight’s body scattered like mist, and from its center, a seed fell to the ground.

“Phew.”

Dorothea let out a deep sigh.

The Tin Knight, who had returned to her side, asked.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if it’s all over!]

“For now… But as expected, the condition is bad. The soul was shattered even before becoming a death knight.”

Saying that at this rate, even with her usual purification, proper conversation would be impossible, Dorothea clicked her tongue.

As she said, the souls were just quietly convulsing and writhing, unable to move properly.

Even when Dorothea used necromancy to give them mouths, all they did was repeat “return” like nonsense.

Now Sophia was protecting the souls with holy power, but even that didn’t seem to have a long grace period.

Dorothea glanced at Adelaide’s expression.

She thought she would undoubtedly have a deathly pale face.

But Adelaide’s expression was different from what she expected.

She was enveloped in a calm yet dignified atmosphere.

Not as the youngest lady of the domain to be protected, but as the proud heir of Friedel.

“—Knights of Friedel.”

The souls reacted with a start.

The souls that had been merely muttering incoherently regained a faint sense of reason.

When Dorothea struck the ground with her staff, their souls, which had been like will-o’-the-wisps or writhing insects, faintly regained human form.

One of the souls muttered blankly.

《Miss Adel….》

Adelaide smiled gently, “Yes, it’s me. The rightful lord of Friedel. Daughter of August von Lennart. Adelaide von Lennart.”

《Oh, oh…!》

《We’ve returned, to Friedel, we’ve returned!》

《Ah, my lord. We’ve done it!》

The souls trembled with joy.

They cried with joy instead of tears that couldn’t flow, saying their efforts hadn’t been in vain.

《Please accept this, Miss.》

One of the knights split his soul and placed it on Adelaide’s palm.

It was the knight’s memory, but its form was very unstable.

Since the knight’s soul itself was already nothing more than a fragment, it was impossible for the memory it held to be intact.

So, the others also split their souls.

As if to claim that even a picture torn to shreds could regain its complete form if many pieces were gathered and put together.

They smiled without the slightest hesitation, even though doing so reduced the time they could remain in this world.

Thus, a tiny orb of light took complete form in Adelaide’s hand.

After carefully cradling it as if handling delicate glasswork, Adelaide spoke, suppressing her trembling voice, “I have received it clearly. I offer my deepest gratitude for your dedication and loyalty. Truly, thank you for your hard work.”

The souls of the knights smiled.

As if rewarded by those words alone, they smiled and disappeared into light.

After all of them had become light, Adelaide bowed her head.

The other companions silently looked elsewhere.

For a long time.

Until the water flowing down her cheeks subsided.

It was a terrible day for rain indeed.

***

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