After the commotion at the mansion died down, the girl, Dorothea, stared at you with a slightly dumbfounded expression.
"I can't believe you smashed through all the mansion guards head-on. And without actually killing a single one."
-Spare anyone you can, as long as it's not too much trouble.
That was the restriction Dorothea had placed on you.
And you cleared that restriction perfectly.
[The 'Tin Knight' insists that he is the type to flawlessly complete bonus objectives!]
[The 'Tin Knight' puffs out his chest triumphantly!]
"…On the outside, you look like the very picture of a solemn knight. I wonder if people who can't hear this 'voice' mistake you for some kind of emotionless, monstrously evil creature of iron and blood."
At Dorothea's words, you imagined the scene.
It seemed like it would be quite amusing.
[The 'Tin Knight' vows to act more the part from now on!]
Dorothea let out a small laugh.
Unlike her chic appearance, the girl before you was quite expressive.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if she has a policy of not killing!]
Dorothea waved her hand as if the idea was absurd.
"It's nothing so grand, just reputation management. There are already plenty of people who view me with prejudice just for being a necromancer. Imagine if I added a reputation for killing people without a second thought. I'd be branded a public enemy in no time. My master is such a monster that it doesn't matter for her, but I'm too frail for that."
You nodded.
Kill those who try to kill you directly, and those who order them to. As for the rest, spare them if possible. If not, it can't be helped.
Dorothea's standards were loose, but you actually preferred it that way. It made it easier to act.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks about the next target!]
At your question, Dorothea took something out of a pouch at her waist.
At first glance, it looked like a pocket watch.
However, it had only one hand, and where the numbers should have been, eight different emblems were engraved instead.
"It's something I got from the royal family. According to some noble, it's tied to some troublesome business with the Kingdom of Heaven, but that's a problem for later. For now, I'll use what I can."
Dorothea clicked a switch on the side of the pocket watch, then turned the hand to point at one of the eight emblems.
Then she clicked the switch once more.
The change was dramatic.
The emblem the hand had pointed to began to squirm, then popped right out of the watch.
Something with no eyes or scales, just black and dark.
A snake, as if made of shadow, writhed on the floor before starting to move off somewhere.
"We just have to follow it. It's a flaw that it doesn't show the exact distance, but just having a guide makes things manageable."
After saying that, Dorothea calmly began to walk after the shadow snake.
You tried to follow her, but for some reason, you realized your body wasn't moving properly.
It wasn't completely immobile, but your reactions felt dull and sluggish.
[The 'Tin Knight' reports that something is wrong with his body!]
At your words, Dorothea turned her head.
"Hm? Ah. Wait a moment."
Dorothea strode over to you.
Her white hand touched your chest plate.
She closed her eyes as if to concentrate.
You felt a sensation, as if something was flowing from her palm and filling your body.
Soon, your body felt light again.
Dorothea removed her hand and explained.
"Magic dolls can't move unless their mana is continuously replenished from an external source. The newer models these days seem to be replenishable from a distance without direct contact, but well... you seem to be an older model."
[The 'Tin Knight' argues that with things like this, the prototype is always stronger and better!]
"If the finished product performs worse than the prototype, that just sounds like lazy engineering. Besides, magic dolls pop up in old fairy tales and legends all the time. A prototype of that? Just how old are you supposed to be?"
[The 'Tin Knight' remarks that she is very knowledgeable!]
"I was originally planning to buy or make a few. So I did some research."
For some reason, Dorothea let out a deep sigh.
"My master asked why I'd use something like that when she can just skim a graveyard and have a fresh supply of labor, but unlike corpses, dolls are clean. And they don't draw as many bad looks."
[The 'Tin Knight' observes that for someone who doesn't look it, she surprisingly cares a lot about what others think!]
Dorothea froze.
"…Wait, what am I supposed to look like?"
You scanned Dorothea's appearance from top to bottom.
There was no doubt she was a beautiful girl.
But, how to put it...
[The 'Tin Knight' assesses that she looks like a female executive from an evil organization!]
CLANG!!
Dorothea's staff slammed into your head.
*
"Don't talk to me until sunset."
With that one sentence, Dorothea clammed up.
She ignored every signal you sent, focusing only on following the shadow snake.
So what could you do? You had no choice but to walk along.
Clank. Clank.
The concept of fatigue doesn't exist for a doll's body. So no matter how long you walked, you never felt tired.
However, it was quite remarkable to see Dorothea, who should have a living body, walk for hours without a single complaint.
Slither, slither. The snake's movement as it crept along the ground was smooth and unhindered.
But it seemed to consume something other than stamina, as its size gradually shrank over time.
Wondering if that was okay, you glanced at Dorothea, but she remained silent.
Finally, just as the shadow snake could no longer maintain its form and vanished, the two of you arrived at a forest.
"Time to get ready for the night. You. Can you stand watch?"
You were momentarily stunned by her casual words.
You stared at Dorothea, but she just asked back as if wondering what the problem was.
"What?"
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if her silent treatment is over!]
Dorothea pointed to the sky with her staff.
"The sun has set."
You looked up at the sky.
Indeed, the sun had set, and the surroundings were growing dark.
"The score is settled. Dragging out something that's over isn't helpful."
It seemed to be Dorothea's own way of 'letting go of her anger'.
You suddenly wondered what her reaction would be if you commented on her fashion again, but you decided not to press the issue.
Traveling without a conversation partner was incredibly boring.
Instead, you asked about something else.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if it's okay that the shadow snake disappeared!]
In response to your question, Dorothea held out that familiar pocket watch-like object.
You could see the emblem that had detached to become the snake slowly redrawing itself.
"That's how this magic tool works. You use it once, and a guide appears that lasts for a few hours. You can't use it consecutively because you have to wait for the mana to recharge."
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if it can't just mark the destination on a map!]
"If you have a complaint, take it up with the ones who made it."
[The 'Tin Knight' asks who made it.]
"Some fools who believed themselves to be gods when they're merely hanging between heaven and earth."
Her words were like a riddle.
When you tilted your head in confusion, Dorothea waved her hand dismissively.
"You'll see them with your own eyes soon enough, so just wait. It'll be faster than me explaining it a hundred times."
Cutting the conversation short, Dorothea began to prepare for the night.
However, compared to what you would consider 'preparing to camp,' her preparations were far more modest.
She chose a moderately sized tree, sprinkled black and white powder in a circle around it, then sat in the middle of the circle and wrapped herself in a blanket.
And that was it.
There was no tent, not even a small mat or a campfire.
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if that's really enough!]
Dorothea answered nonchalantly.
"I've cast a spell to block the cold and damp, and another to keep bugs away. The blanket is enough to block the wind."
[The 'Tin Knight' asks if she doesn't need something like a campfire!]
"Finding dry wood is a chore, and so is managing the fire to make sure it doesn't spread. Besides, if you light a campfire, you're just announcing your position to everything around."
[The 'Tin Knight' asks what she'll do for food!]
"I have dried fruit and jerky. And my constitution is such that I don't need to drink much water."
You sensed a 'familiarity' in Dorothea's actions and words.
It wasn't mere bravado, but the calm composure unique to someone who has been through many experiences.
Certainly, Dorothea's method was extremely efficient.
But you felt dissatisfied with it.
Because it lacked 'romance'.
For you, who wanted to enjoy this world, this was a very serious problem.
[The 'Tin Knight' insists that he will serve her the finest camp-cooked meal!]
"Huh? No, I said I don't need-"
[The 'Tin Knight' exclaims that she should wait just a moment!]
You launched yourself into the darkness of the forest.