The Tin Knight-Chapter 83: The Tin Knight and The City of Struggle (2)

The mercenary captain’s words about “many magic beasts” were true.

Originally, the criteria for magic beasts were quite vague.

Even a dog with a red mouth from heartily eating a whole chicken could be classified as a magic beast if someone shouted, “There’s a vicious beast craving blood here!”

The statement about “many bandits” was also true.

In this world, travelers were people who could change their occupation to bandits at any time. The difference between merchants and bandits was whether they paid money or brandished a knife when obtaining goods. In fact, the mercenary group themselves were half bandits, so there was no need to look far.

Since he didn’t tell a single lie, the mercenary captain was truly an honest person.

He continued speaking, full of kindness and consideration, “You look like travelers. How sad would your parents be if you met with a terrible fate while wandering around without proper escorts? We’ll escort you to prevent such a tragedy.”

Of course, since they weren’t charity workers, the escort would require an “appropriate fee”, but this was a minor issue.

Whether it was magic beasts or bandits, the possibility of them actually attacking was slim, but this, too, was unimportant.

No matter when I see it, the method is always so crude.

Listening to the mercenary captain’s business spiel, Hindler made a sour expression.

It wasn’t that he felt particularly guilty about this extortion—no, escort fee collection.

He thought it was a roundabout method, but he considered it unavoidable since without even such a pretext, they would be inevitably subjugated as a bandit group if they tried to extort money.

However, the silent knight beside them was very concerning.

It was full-body armor that didn’t show even a bit of bare skin, so it looked difficult to penetrate without using sword energy.

And if someone could use sword energy, there would be no reason to roll around in such an ambiguous mercenary group in the first place.

In terms of adventurers, they would be silver rank, and could be treated as a knight in any decent domain, so why would they be doing such inefficient fee collection in a place like this?

“Yeah, yeah! If you come with us, we’ll protect you safely, okay?”

“Or we could even carry you. Don’t your legs hurt? Hmm?”

However, it seemed Hindler was the only one worried about “what if a fight breaks out”.

Most of his companions were busy appreciating the beauty of the potential customers while grinning. It was truly exemplary behavior of street ruffians.

Hindler had to suppress the urge to ask, “Can any of you even withstand one blow if that knight draws his sword?”

Since that was about the average level of the mercenary group, saying such pointed words would only make him look tactless.

“Hmm.”

The beautiful woman in black clothes at the front looked them up and down.

It wasn’t exactly a kind gaze, but perhaps due to her uniquely cold atmosphere, even that felt like a painting. In short, it was eye candy.

“This guy is enough for an escort.”

It was a firm rejection.

Of course, the mercenary captain didn’t back down easily either.

“Haha. Well, that knight there does seem quite skilled. But he’s alone, isn’t he? And carrying such heavy luggage too, it seems he’d be short-handed to protect several people.”

At a glance, it seemed like a simple concern, but the implication behind it was quite threatening.

What the captain said applied not just to bandits, but to their mercenary group as well.

“It would be a shame to get hurt trying to save money. Why don’t you just hire us? We’ll give you a cheap rate.”

“They say the body is more precious than money. That’s true.”

The beautiful woman in black clothes smirked.

Seeing the atmosphere seemingly resolving better than expected, the mercenary group also smiled.

The beauty said, “Is it that dangerous ahead? Enough to need an escort?”

“That’s right, that’s right. Very dangerous.”

“Is it dangerous for you too?”

“Huh?”

The mercenary captain momentarily seemed taken aback.

To show confidence, it would be better to say, “There’s no problem,” but on the other hand, saying, “It’s dangerous,” could command a higher price. It was truly a dilemma.

The mercenary captain chose the latter.

“Ahem, yes, that’s right. There are many formidable enemies that are quite dangerous, even for us. But—“

“Then we’ll escort you, so how much will you pay? I happened to need some cash.”

“Huh?”

The mercenary captain made a dumbfounded expression.

“Ha, haha. The young lady sure knows how to joke.”

“I’m not joking.”

“...It’s not good to tease adults.”

“I’m telling you, I’m not teasing.”

The warm atmosphere disappeared, and a chilly air filled its place.

The mercenary captain said with a grim face, “Ha! Isn’t this too much? We’re kindly offering our goodwill, and you say you’ll escort us? As if we need to be protected by you—kuhek!”

Hindler rushed forward with lightning speed and elbowed the captain in the side.

And he completed the captain’s forcibly interrupted words, “—we are weak! Oh my, thank you so much for offering to protect us!!”

“Y-you bastard, have you gone mad...!”

The captain, with reddened eyes, tried to grab Hindler’s collar, but seeing Hindler’s desperate eye signal, he seemed to sense something and looked around.

And the captain saw.

The sword energy leaking from the knight’s sword.

The captain’s waist bent so flexibly it could put a flip phone to shame.

“Yes, that’s right! We are actually pitifully weak! In my haste, I ended up telling a lie!”

“Uh, huh?”

“Captain? What are you doing?”

“Hey, you fools! These people are offering to escort us! Hurry up and greet them!”

The members continued to fail to read the atmosphere and stuttered, but as the mercenary captain kept shouting at them, they greeted as instructed, though bewildered.

The beautiful woman in black clothes, Dorothea, said with a bitter smile, “Alright. I’ll accept. Ah, while we’re at it, could you carry some luggage too?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ wonders if they need money, couldn’t they just defeat bandits?]

***To the Tin Knight’s words, Dorothea answered simply, “Well, they say they’re a mercenary group, not bandits. And even if they were bandits, isn’t it a bit much to kill them just to take their money?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ wonders if bandits aren’t like humanoid monsters?]

“What is this human-adjacent madman saying?”

In fact, Dorothea had also noticed that this self-proclaimed mercenary group was quite suspicious.

Including the fact that they approached with quite impure intentions at first.

Yet the reason Dorothea didn’t crush them was simple.

“They didn’t draw their swords, after all.”

If they had openly attempted robbery, Dorothea would have retaliated mercilessly too, but these people only attempted wordplay in a precarious area, without crossing the line.

She decided to extract the price for their wordplay in the form of manual labor and compensation under the pretext of escort fees, so from Dorothea’s perspective, there was no particular reason to kill them.

Shit, that was close.

Hindler, eavesdropping on the conversation from a slightly distant position, felt his hair stand on end.

Although he could only hear Dorothea’s lines from the two people’s conversation, it was enough to guess what they were talking about.

Thinking that if he had been a little late in stopping the captain, his own neck might have flown off, he involuntarily gulped.

What made him even more furious was that his other companions couldn’t grasp the situation, even in this state.

“Um, Captain. Are we really paying the escort fee? Is this right?”

“Damn it. It’s not your personal money anyway, it’s coming from the group funds and my money. Stop whining!”

“Ugh. This is damn heavy. Why are these people carrying so many things like wood and stones? Can’t we just throw them away?”

“Absolutely, absolutely do not even dream of it. Think of that luggage as your lives!”

“Hehehe. These stupid fools. Don’t you understand the captain’s grand plan yet? When it gets dark and gloomy, we’ll have some fun—kuhek!”

“Shut up, you bastard!!”

Hindler shook his head.

Usually, watching the captain’s actions, Hindler had been thinking, “Couldn’t I do that instead?” but now more than ever, he couldn’t be more thankful that he wasn’t the captain.

If the Tin Knight had seen this, he would have agreed that being a group member was easier than being the group leader in a group project.

“Excuse me. May I ask a question?”

To him, who was hoping this uncomfortable journey would end quickly, the green-haired woman from the group spoke.

“Ah, yes. Ask anything. I’ll tell you everything I know to the best of my ability. Hehe.”

Hindler quickly rubbed his hands and kept bowing deeply.

If he could get a little friendly with one of the group members, when another idiot caused trouble and a death sentence was handed down, they might say, “Well, that person is a bit better, so let’s spare him,” and take his side?

“Are you active in this area?”

“Yes.”

“Then do you know what that dust cloud over there is?”

“Huh?”

Hindler felt puzzled.

Dust cloud?

He had never seen such a thing in this area.

But then.

“What’s that?”

Far away. Beyond the horizon, something like a dust cloud could be seen rising.

The other companions seemed to have noticed it too, as they started whispering one by one.

“Is it a herd of magic beasts in heat?”

“Isn’t it bandits from the Federation?”

It didn’t take long to confirm that all their guesses were off the mark.

As the distance closed, the figures at the front of the dust cloud began to be visible.

Armor gleaming in the sunlight. Magnificent cloaks. Even large horses that looked of good quality. novelbuddy.cσ๓

No matter how one looked at it, they weren’t magic beasts, and there was no way bandits would wear such shiny equipment.

The other side seemed to have noticed them too, as they changed their slightly misaligned course and turned their horses’ heads.

-Neigh!

“Whoa, whoa.”

Among about twenty young men who stopped their horses nearby, the man at the very front looked down at the group with an arrogant gaze.

He said, “You don’t look like a merchant group, what are you?”

It was sudden informal speech and an abrupt question.

But due to his natural tone and attitude, Hindler and the mercenary group members couldn’t easily refute.

Judging by their clothes and their fair skin, they looked like noble lords, no matter how one looked at them.

The mercenary captain briefly glanced at Dorothea, but when she didn’t step forward as if observing the situation, he cautiously opened his mouth, “We’re the Iron Stake Mercenary Group. Do you have some business?”

“Mercenary group? Why is a mercenary group in a place like this?”

The man continued his one-sided questioning without answering the mercenary captain’s question.

The mercenary group members made slightly uncomfortable expressions.

“It’s for... escorting.”

Perhaps feeling awkward to say they were “receiving” an escort, the mercenary captain answered vaguely.

The man’s gaze turned towards Dorothea’s group, then swept over the mercenaries again.

He said to his companions, “Hmm. They look suspicious no matter how I look at them. What do you think?”

“We think the same. We’ve never heard of a mercenary group called Iron Stake.”

“These days, even woodcutters seem to go around calling themselves mercenaries.”

“Well, in a frontier like this, the level of talent is predictable, isn’t it? Farmers double as soldiers, street thugs strut around calling themselves adventurers, that sort of thing.”

“Hahaha.”

Blatant laughter echoed.

The faces of the listening members turned bright red.

After directing scorn at them, who were trembling with humiliation, the man at the front moved his horse.

He approached Dorothea and said, “Did you hire these people as escorts?”

Dorothea answered with a blank expression, “Us hire them? We were the ones who were hired.”

“What? Hahaha! Not only is your face nice, but your humor is good too. I like you even more.”

Thinking Dorothea’s answer was a joke, he laughed loudly.

The man said, “Seeing a flower struggling to walk in such a wilderness, as a gentleman, I can’t bear to pass by. Come with me. I’ll specially escort you.”

He held out his hand.

He looked as if he didn’t even think he would be rejected.

Dorothea closed her eyes and tilted her neck left and right as if stretching.

The next moment. With her blue eyes wide open, Dorothea said, “If you need flowers, go to a flower garden. You human lacking in manners, common sense, and decency.”