A straight line from the right shoulder to the right thigh.
The members of Gerhardt’s faction screamed at the large wound that could only be seen as fatal.
Far from clutching his wound and collapsing, Gerhardt himself moved his leg and kicked Adelaide even in that state.
The sword Adelaide was holding broke, and she, too, rolled on the ground, unable to withstand the impact.
Blood gushed from Gerhardt’s wound.
It was the price he paid for forcing movement in an injured state.
Gerhardt, examining his wound with a grim face, twitched his eyebrow as he saw Adelaide groaning, yet struggling to get up.
The Tin Knight stepped forward, as if confronting Gerhardt once again.
His body was riddled with penetration wounds, and his right arm was twisted outward at about 90 degrees, yet he seemed as indomitable as ever, showing no sign of weakness.
Rather, he gave off the impression that he could fight much more fiercely if he so chose.
Just as Gerhardt was about to step forward thinking, “Perhaps, then I too—“ the count’s voice was heard, “How about stopping there? If this goes any further, it will become a fight to the death rather than a duel.”
Gerhardt’s body hesitated.
Knowing the count’s words were right, but wanting to burn his full strength, the old man stubbornly insisted.
“...Many duels become fights to the death.”
“If this had been a fight to the death, you would have already lost.”
“If that young lady had the mind for it, your head would be split open now.”
Gerhardt swallowed his words.
The visible bleeding was gruesome, but in fact, Gerhardt still had strength left.
Although she briefly handled sword energy during the battle, Adelaide’s technique remained immature.
In many ways, it was insufficient to properly cut through Gerhardt’s body, which was already sturdy due to the Lion Duke bloodline’s unique constitution, enhanced further by years of training and mana reinforcement.
However, that could change depending on how the attack was executed.
Had she aimed for the head from the start, and not slashing but striking down, even Gerhardt wouldn’t have been so unscathed.
As Gerhardt hesitated, an annoying voice reached his ears.
“Cough! Cough! Phew. Well, I know you’ve always been stubborn and ugly in character. But let’s be reasonable. Come on. The old man has no sense of cleanliness.”
“Your mouth is still alive while lying on the floor.”
“If a chunk of iron had hit you in the solar plexus, you wouldn’t be saying that.”
As if he really didn’t have the strength to get up, not just saying so, René rolled his eyes while sprawled on the floor.
Gerhardt, who had been staring at him with annoyance, closed his eyes as if sighing.
***After the match ended, there were no cheers filling the arena or grand award ceremonies.
The spectators, who should have offered admiration or cheers, were instead left shocked by the bloody fight that had unfolded.
“What a shame. It was such a spectacular fight.”
To the count calmly munching on cookies as if he couldn’t understand, the knight commander replied with an expression that seemed to want to sigh, “Well, to ordinary people, it must have looked like they were really fighting for their lives when they said they were having a duel.”
The standard for a “fatal wound” for ordinary people and for martial artists trained with mana was quite different.
For the former, a wrong cut to the thigh or neck could lead to death from excessive bleeding, but for the latter, with a bit of focus, blood vessels could be blocked, stopping their own bleeding to fight further.
Of course, there were limits, as it wasn’t to the level where severed arms would grow back, but it was true that as the level of both sides increased, duels tended to become more vicious.
Especially the Lion Duke bloodline, perhaps because their basic constitution was strong-boned, this trait was even more pronounced.
“Well, to put it another way, since it was such an incredible fight, there probably won’t be anyone who refuses to accept the outcome now. Even if there were, they wouldn’t easily open their mouths due to the surrounding atmosphere. In that sense, Lord Gerhardt did us a favor.”
“Judging by how he insisted on the match until the end, it doesn’t seem like it was intentional.”
“Isn’t the result what matters? And even if Lord Gerhardt didn’t have such intentions, Lord René certainly did. Honestly, he had no reason to agree to the duel other than that.”
Although, I’m sure they didn’t think they would both lose side by side.
The count muttered inwardly.
The knight commander agreed.
The result of this match was abnormal.
“I’m curious about the identity of that Tin Knight. I’ve heard that magic dolls from the Magic Country have much better performance than those of the Empire. Could he be from there?”
“If so, it’s a scary thing. We should quickly strive to improve our technology in our city, too. Otherwise, our Tik-Tok dolls might fall like common soldiers before a knight when facing Magic Country dolls,” the count said playfully.
Judging by the smile on his lips, he didn’t seem to be seriously worried.
“...Do you perhaps have any guesses about that knight?”
To the knight commander’s cautious question, the count shrugged.
“Well. At least he seems like a very interesting fellow.”
At the answer that could be either sincere or a joke, the knight commander inwardly sighed.
His lord was, as always, an enigmatic individual.
***Tik-Tok Lord’s Castle. Infirmary.
“...You’re asking me to take on the role of instructor here?”
With bandages wrapped around his upper body, Gerhardt twitched his eyebrow.
Adelaide shrank her shoulders at the sight that looked like he was suppressing rising anger to anyone who saw it.
René, who was beside him, interjected.
Unlike Gerhardt, he was neatly dressed in his uniform without a single hint of skin exposure.
“It’s not ‘me’ but ‘us’. Let’s be precise with our words.”
“I have no desire to be lumped together with a brat like you under ‘us’.”
“Hey, old man, do you think I’m doing this because I like you?”
“D-don’t fight, everyone.”
Seeing the two growling at each other, Adelaide desperately conveyed her thoughts while glancing at the Tin Knight.
S-Sir Knight. Isn’t this an unreasonable move no matter how you look at it?!
At Adelaide’s eye signal, the Tin Knight replied.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ answers that if that was the case, he would have just taken one side from the beginning and ended it after getting the token recognized!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that the reward for the hidden route should be bigger than the normal route!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares that the dojo where Adelaide becomes the representative instructor should be bigger and stronger than the others!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that having an old man of strength and a young man of technique is better than having just one or the other!]
It was obvious, but it was impossible for Adelaide, who had to wander the continent collecting tokens, to stay in Tik-Tok continuously and act as an instructor.
The position of representative instructor would essentially be in name only, so the actual operation of the dojo would have to be entrusted to someone else.
Adelaide had thought of entrusting that role to René, with whom she had some acquaintance—and also feeling guilty for suddenly hitting him from behind—but the Tin Knight argued that if they were going to do it anyway, it would be better to persuade Gerhardt as well.
Of course, the Tin Knight had no intention of speaking for himself and expected Adelaide to relay everything, disregarding any discomfort she might feel.
Well, if he had no heart, naturally, he lacked human decency as well.
If the witch had been here, she would have stepped on the Tin Knight’s brake by spitting out harsh words or physically beating him, but the cowardly little lion cub still lacked such courage and capacity.
Instead of kicking her hopeless master’s shin, she looked at Gerhardt and René with teary eyes.
“Um, well, is it really too much to ask?”
The two remained silent.
“...Hmph, if that’s the winner’s will, I have no choice but to follow.”
Surprisingly, it was Gerhardt’s side that raised the white flag first.
“What’s this? What’s gotten into this old man? I thought for sure you’d say something shameless, like ‘If you’re going to entrust it anyway, hand over full authority.’”
“Didn’t you shamelessly challenge me again after losing to me?”
“What you did was a scam, wasn’t it?”
“You really have a way with words. Someone listening might think you were kicked out without doing anything wrong.”
Although René grumbled complaints, he eventually nodded like Gerhardt.
“Well, I suppose it’s better to take on the role of instructor than to be kicked out. When this duel becomes widely known, the strength of magic dolls will be re-evaluated, so the number of disciples will probably increase.”
Adelaide’s expression brightened.
“Thank you both so much!”
“Haha. No need for thanks. The old man should be thanking you, Adelaide. For me, I’m just keeping half of what I had, but for this old man, he’s getting half of something he had nothing of, right? It seems like he should be bowing in gratitude no matter how you look at it.”
“Your tongue is long for a loser.”
Adelaide let out an awkward laugh at the sight of the two starting to fight again while barely acknowledging her greeting.
She was worried whether the dojo would run properly with these two rivals constantly butting heads... but what could she do? She had to believe in the Tin Knight’s intuition.
After that, they discussed things like “New disciples entering the dojo will first receive general training, and then choose their preferred instructor during the specialization process,” “Creating an assistant system to increase the motivation of disciples,” “Adelaide’s seven disciples will receive bonus points when applying for assistant roles,” and so on.
Then the Tin Knight spoke to Adelaide.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests talking about the Smith & Sinc Workshop as well!]
“Ah, right. The day after tomorrow, a doll workshop affiliated with our party is scheduled to open. The knight says he’ll show some performances on the street to celebrate the grand opening, so please come and watch if you’re interested!”
“Oh, a doll workshop, you say? If it’s a place you recommend, it’s quite interesting. I’ve been patronizing the Stromboli Company, but it’s basic to have multiple trading routes.”
“Tsk. To have such skill, yet you’re lowering yourself to play the role of a clown? It’s hard to understand.”
The Tin Knight proudly puffed out his chest.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims he’ll show an even more powered-up version of himself then!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that thinking about it, if they had twisted the event order and finished upgrading at the workshop before fighting, it would have been easier!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ concludes that, in the end, this was enjoyable as it had an appropriate difficulty, and praises his own scheduling ability as excellent!]
Adelaide, who had to roll desperately during this match, remained silent.
“By the way, Adelaide. It seems like your doll wants to say something. What is it?”
Adelaide thought for a moment. Then, with a grin, she answered, “—No, he didn’t say anything in particular!”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is shocked by his pupil’s rebellious phase!]
After the arduous challenge in Tik-Tok.
She had grown a little more once again.