You opened your eyes.
You were now sitting in front of a computer in a small room without exit, controlling a “character”.
You now stood on the damp, cold floor of a storage room, firmly grounded on both legs.
When you clicked the mouse, the character on the screen performed a predetermined action.
When you tensed your shoulders, your right arm swept through the air, and your left hand grasped something.
You were the player outside the screen.
You were the Tin Knight in reality.
Two sets of sensations and perspectives coexisted within you without contradiction.
The sensation was alien yet interesting. While it could have been a frightening sensation, your emotions registered it as “fun”.
Your gaze turned to the side.
A girl stood there, looking at you with a mix of caution and suspicion.
She was a girl of exceptionally beauty.
Her hair, black as ebony, was tied to one side, draping over her shoulder. In spite of her round face that still showed traces of youth, her eyes gave off a fiery impression.
In her right hand was a wooden staff and on her left, she wore a bracelet and ring connected by a chain. Her clothing was engraved with strange markings, and various types of pouches hung from the belt around her waist.
Her outfit seemed far too practical to be considered a mere fashion statement.
Though the design of the clothing itself was quite elaborate, it didn’t seem like she had completely forsaken style either.
Judging by the dust and small wounds covering her body, she must have endured significant hardship to arrive in this storage room.
[The ‘Tin Knight' confirms the appearance of the girl who awakened him!]
An unusual, message-like thing appeared in your computer logs—or perhaps your very mind.
The girl’s expression subtly changed.
You intuitively realized that she probably saw the same message as you.
[The ‘Tin Knight' finds the 'Voice of Guidance' fascinating.]
Voice of Guidance. That seemed to be the term for this notification-like thing.
You interpreted it as a game system of sorts, but the girl seemed to think differently.
The girl’s gaze was directed at the brooch near your neck.
“A magic tool that displays the status or will of a magic doll...? There are all sorts of strange things.”
The girl looked like she had plenty she wanted to say, but unfortunately, the situation didn’t allow for leisurely conversation.
The sound of footsteps echoed from beyond the storage room door.
The noisy presence of people was rapidly approaching the two of you.
“Wait, you! Since I’m the one who revived you, help me out for now!”
The girl gave you a request to fulfill.
But before the girl could even finish her request, you were already storming beyond the door.
Dorothea blankly watched the Tin Knight charge ahead before she could even finish speaking.
The Tin Knight, who had simultaneously blown away the storage room door and the pursuer beyond it with a body slam, swung his fist at another nearby pursuer without a moment’s hesitation.
The grotesque sound of blunt metal meeting human flesh rang out.
A man screamed, clutching his shattered nose.
The Tin Knight mercilessly delivered a second blow.
Driving his elbow down at a sharp angle, a sickening crack followed as the pursuer’s head snapped like a hooting owl, rendering him motionless.
The first pursuer, who had been knocked down with the door, struggled to get up, but the Tin Knight stomped down, bursting his head like a ripe fruit.
A knife thrown by one of the pursuers collided with the Tin Knight’s body, producing a sharp metallic sound.
An attack that would have been life-threatening to Dorothea meant little more than a scratch to the Tin Knight with his metal body.
The Tin Knight picked up the fallen knife from the floor and returned it to sender.
Of course, the method was the very knife throw that had struck him in the first place.
The pursuer, lacking the sturdy body of the Tin Knight, clutched his punctured throat, trembling violently before sliding lifelessly against the wall.
Dorothea stared in disbelief at the Tin Knight, who had turned three people into corpses within seconds.
That magic doll abandoned in that tattered storage room is moving perfectly?
While Dorothea herself had poured all her mana into refurbishing the physical body, the soul controlling that body was an entirely separate matter.
Artificial souls were generally shallow, meaning they lacked self-awareness.
These souls were only designed to execute simple commands from their master. Without continuous reinforcement through new commands and magic, the soul would quickly fade.
Yet this “Tin Knight”, in Dorothea’s view, had likely been abandoned for decades—possibly even a century.
Could an artificial soul contained in such a doll remain intact?
Unless... it contained a real soul.
...No, that doesn’t make sense either. A human soul couldn’t possibly endure being trapped in such a place.
Shaking her head as if to dispel the thoughts in her mind, Dorothea carefully attempted to converse with the Tin Knight before her, “You fight well. Good job. Now, let’s talk—Hey? Wait! Where are you going!? Hey!”
[The ‘Tin Knight' declares that enemies await him!]
Another mysterious message echoed in Dorothea’s mind.
Leaving the dumbfounded Dorothea behind, the Tin Knight dashed up the stairs.
Moments later, chaos erupted above.
The sharp clang of metal, the sound of something breaking, screams, and threatening shouts filled the air.
The diverse cacophony of noise became a poorly played piece of music, tickling Dorothea’s ears.
If a street musician had performed such a piece, they would have been pelted with stones by the audience rather than receiving coins.
[The ‘Tin Knight' cheers at the overwhelming number of enemies!]
[The ‘Tin Knight' steals a fallen enemy’s weapon and wields it!]
[The ‘Tin Knight' marvels at something shiny on the sword!]
[The ‘Tin Knight' wonders what genre this is supposed to be!]
She didn’t just think it—she blurted it out.
No matter how she looked at it, the magic doll she had revived seemed far from sane.
Honestly, she felt the strong urge to cut ties with this magic doll right away, unfortunately, there was only one exit leading outside.
[The ‘Tin Knight' announces that all enemies have been slain!]
Feeling a bit reluctant, Dorothea warily climbed the stairs.
The scene above was nothing short of a massacre.
At a glance, there were more than a dozen corpses with severed necks, spilled entrails, and broken bones.
Their faces, all stained with terror and bewilderment, clearly reflected the emotions they felt in their final moments.
And at the center of it all, stood one lone knight. No, one doll.
In the dim light, the figure holding a sword dripping with blood was both imposing and threatening beyond measure.
The Tin Knight directed his gaze towards Dorothea.
Feeling the emotionless, indifferent gaze piercing through her body, Dorothea felt a chill run down her spine without realizing it.
Thinking rationally, she realized she hadn’t yet formed a master-servant contract with the Tin Knight.
In other words, depending on the knight’s actions, there was a possibility that Dorothea could end up as another corpse strewn about...
[The ‘Tin Knight' wonders what the next objective is!]
Despite appearing like a battle-hardened veteran knight, his actions were oddly childlike. Dorothea roughly scratched her head in frustration.
After letting out a long-needed sigh, she pointed her staff at the Tin Knight.
“Let me ask you first, do you intend to keep helping me from now on?”
[The ‘Tin Knight' declares promises must be kept!]
“I don’t remember making any promises with you?”
[The ‘Tin Knight' says it's a promise with the old man!]
Dorothea fell into thought.
Although she couldn’t understand the reason, the Tin Knight before her seemed to harbor a minimal sense of goodwill towards her.
His overwhelmingly high combat abilities were appealing to her as well. However, his frivolous attitude left a lot to be desired.
Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, Dorothea could easily overlook that much given the tasks she needed to accomplish.
“Alright then, shall we make a contract?”
Dorothea drew a dagger from her waist and cut a slit into her fingertip.
Instead of falling to the ground, the red droplets of blood crawled through the air, forming letters.
“Firstly, I’ll provide you with the mana necessary to move your body. In exchange, you’ll protect me from threats. Nod if you agree.”
The Tin Knight shook his head without hesitation.
Dorothea wasn’t particularly discouraged. Adjusting the terms of a contract was the most basic of basics.
“Is mana alone not enough compensation? Or is the range of threats too broad for your liking?”
[The ‘Tin Knight' states he was merely curious about what would happen if he refused!]
A vein popped up on Dorothea’s forehead.
Suppressing the urge to give up and beat that damn hunk of metal with her staff, Dorothea opened her mouth once more, “Firstly, I’ll provide you with the mana necessary to move your body. In exchange, you’ll protect me from threats. Nod if you agree—and I won’t stay quiet if you test me this time”
Perhaps intimidated by the threat, or simply bored of repeating the same process—Dorothea judged it to be the latter—the Tin Knight obediently nodded.
As if responding to the knight’s agreement, the blood droplets swirling in the air formed the first clause of their contract.
“Secondly, I may request your strength for purposes other than protection. The compensation will be determined by mutual agreement.”
[The ‘Tin Knight' asks if he can propose requests first!]
“You? Propose requests to me...? Well, I don’t mind. Shall we modify it that way then?”
Once again, the blood in the air rippled, forming the second clause of the contract.
As Dorothea waved her staff, the contract made of blood moved in front of the Tin Knight’s eyes.
【'Dorothea Aschengard' will provide the mana necessary for the ‘Tin Knight' to move his body. In exchange, the ‘Tin Knight' will protect 'Dorothea Aschengard' from threats.】
【'Dorothea Aschengard' and ‘Tin Knight' can request additional cooperation from each other as needed. The compensation for cooperation will be determined by mutual agreement each time.】
[The ‘Tin Knight' evaluates the contract is surprisingly simple!]
In response to the Tin Knight’s reaction, Dorothea shrugged her shoulders.
Originally, familiar contracts were much more thorough, and it was common sense to include detailed restrictions to ensure the “servant” unilaterally obeyed the “master”.
In that sense, Dorothea’s contract was not only weak in its enforcement but sloppy. Well, it wasn’t like Dorothea particularly cared.
“How well do we know each other to make such a complex and grand contract? It’s enough to just ensure we won’t stab each other in the back right now and leave room for future cooperation.”
[The ‘Tin Knight' appreciates this refreshing straightforwardness!]
[The ‘Tin Knight' asks what should be done first!]
In response to the Tin Knight’s question, Dorothea looked around at the corpses scattered nearby and said, “Like a proper witch, we should start by settling some grudges.”