This was the second time Ronnie Roxly had seen the Tin Knight fight.
In truth, it was a stretch to say she had properly 'seen' the first fight.
After all, it had been a dark night, and she had been bound hand and foot, scrambling on the ground. She was too busy trying to process the sudden turn of events to have the luxury of watching.
She had understood intellectually that the Tin Knight was strong, having seen him single-handedly crush a horde of bandits, but she hadn't truly felt it.
But now that she could properly watch him fight, things were different.
"…"
Ronnie stared blankly, her eyes wide.
It wasn't a display of any special techniques or finesse.
His attacks consisted solely of strikes with his fists and elbows, and his defense could hardly be called clean, not even as a hollow compliment.
Unable to completely evade the men's attacks, scraping sounds echoed from various parts of his body.
At a glance, he seemed to be on a rampage, relying solely on the strength of his armor.
But Ronnie, who had long strived to become a knight, could see the truth.
The fists he seemed to swing at random were, in fact, aimed precisely at his enemies' vital points. In contrast, the blades swung by the men all missed their marks, failing to deliver any real force and merely scraping against his surface.
It was a fighting style designed from the ground up to engage multiple opponents.
A philosophy was ingrained in his every move: minimize wasted motion, efficiently deflect minor attacks, and invest the conserved energy into felling as many foes as possible.
It didn't take long for every one of the men who had picked the fight to be sprawled on the ground.
The Tin Knight's gaze fell upon Ronnie.
Feeling as if the brilliant blue light shining from within his helmet was blaming her, Ronnie involuntarily flinched.
Thinking about it rationally, it wouldn't be surprising if the Tin Knight was displeased. After all, far from offering assistance, she had just stood by and watched, dumbfounded.
"Th-thank you for your help! And I'm sorry."
The Tin Knight didn't answer.
After waiting about ten seconds for him to say something, Ronnie belatedly recalled that the Tin Knight couldn't speak—or more precisely, that no one besides the witch could understand his words. It was a stupid mistake, and she knew it.
Just as Ronnie was chiding herself, thinking this is why I'll never be more than a page, the Tin Knight began to gesture with his hands.
He pointed a finger at a fallen man.
Near his mouth, he opened and closed his fist.
Then he pointed at Ronnie again, before pointing above her head.
At first, Ronnie couldn't decipher the meaning, but after the Tin Knight repeated the gestures several times, she finally understood.
"Interrogate them and find out information about the young lady. Is that what you're saying?"
The Tin Knight nodded.
Of course, Ronnie thought, convinced.
It was obvious that these men, who had been operating in the city for at least a day longer than they had, would know more.
Unlike the two men she had cut down, the four the Tin Knight had defeated were merely unconscious, their lives in no danger.
Ronnie was once again amazed by the Tin Knight's ability to pay attention to such details, even while fighting a group.
The only remaining concern was the fallout from having committed murder in the middle of the street… but as it turned out, that problem solved itself.
"Hey, ladies. Those corpses lying over there, mind if I clean 'em up?"
When one of the onlookers from the fight approached them, Ronnie assumed he was an acquaintance of the dead men.
She thought he was asking for permission to bury his friends.
But she was mistaken.
No sooner had Ronnie nodded than the man approached the corpses, stripped them of all their clothes and belongings, and tossed the bodies onto a cart as if they were sacks of luggage.
His attitude showed not a shred of respect for the dead; he handled them as if they were mere objects.
Ronnie was so dumbfounded that she could only stand there with her mouth agape as the man wheeled the cart away and disappeared.
The cleanup was finished without any extra effort on their part, but the thought of how those corpses would be disposed of left a truly foul taste in her mouth.
There was good news, however.
First, the men answered her questions without any pointless resistance. Second, they actually had information about the 'young lady.'
Glancing nervously at the Tin Knight, who stood waiting with his arms crossed in a corner of the room, the man with the large bruise on his face began to speak.
"If you're talkin' about guys who brought a large number of slaves into the city recently, it's gotta be Colombo's gang. They're notorious for doin' anything and everything for money."
The irony of a man who had just tried to extort money from an innocent woman speaking of notoriety was not lost on Ronnie, but that wasn't important now.
"Where are they?"
"It's not like they're in any one place. There are so many of 'em, they don't stick together. They're scattered all over in groups."
"Just tell me what you know!" Ronnie pressed him, her tone sharp.
Faced with this intimidating demeanor—a stark contrast to her polite attitude toward the Tin Knight—the man flinched slightly as he replied.
"Th-there's a place not too far from here called the 'Black Boar Inn.' I saw them partying there yesterday."
"How many of them?"
"I don't know exactly. Looked like over twenty."
Ronnie grimaced.
Twenty. It was a truly overwhelming force.
As common bandits, their individual skills were likely nothing special, but the very fact that so many criminals who thought nothing of killing were gathered together was a threat in itself.
Worse, that was only a fraction of their number. Their total force could easily exceed a hundred.
…I figured they had to be a big deal to openly try and plunder a proper domain, but I never imagined they'd be this large.
Clank.
Just as Ronnie was lost in thought, the sound of the Tin Knight moving reached her ears.
"Sir Knight?"
The Tin Knight didn't answer her question, instead approaching the bruised man.
"W-wait! Why! I told you everything I know! The guy who picked a fight with your group is already dead!" the man cried out, struggling against his ropes, thinking the knight was about to kill him. But the Tin Knight simply grabbed his shoulders and forced him to his feet.
Then, he patted the man's back, pushing him forward.
"Huh? What?"
The man was bewildered, but then a thought seemed to strike him. He asked cautiously, "Don't tell me… you want me to guide you?"
The Tin Knight nodded.
"No, that's… If I get on Colombo's gang's bad side, who knows what'll happen to me— Ah, alright! I'll do it! I just have to guide you, right!"
The man, who had been about to make excuses, quickly changed his tune the moment he saw the Tin Knight's hand move toward the sword at his hip.
Though his voice trembled on the verge of tears, it was hardly a pitiable sight, considering this was his own doing.
"Please wait a moment, Sir Knight. Surely you don't intend to move out right now?"
The Tin Knight nodded once more.
Ronnie hesitated.
They had only just arrived in the city, and it was already nearing evening.
Considering the darkness that would soon blanket the sky, and the fatigue of their party, now was not the right time to act.
But.
Didn't you say you had to rescue the young lady? Are you saying it's fine to let her suffer for another day just because she's already been kidnapped?
Why had they forced their way through the side gate in the first place? Wasn't it to rescue the young lady as quickly as possible?
Because they'd had a fight. Because they'd gotten a clue about the young lady's whereabouts.
Would it truly be 'knightly' to be satisfied that they had done enough for one day?
Impatience and haste were shortcuts to failure.
However, she didn't think that simply staying put was the right thing to do, either.
Ronnie turned to the Tin Knight.
"Could you give me a little time? I'll gather those in our party who are willing to move with us. We can leave aside those who followed us because they had nowhere else to go, or those who came to meet their families… but I want to give a chance to those who joined us for revenge."
The Tin Knight seemed to ponder this for a moment before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall again.
It was a clear sign that he would wait.
Ronnie bowed to the Tin Knight, then went to inform the rest of their party.
The group, who had just finished an early dinner to sate their hunger and were about to rest, looked bewildered by the sudden news.
Some asked if they couldn't just leave it to the knight, while others pleaded to at least rest a bit before fighting.
But.
There were also those who, with burning eyes, immediately prepared to move.
"I couldn't do anything during the last fight, but this time will be different."
"We're going to get revenge on that trash, right? I'm in. I'll kill them all."
"I have to get my little sister back from the bandits. Please, take me with you."
"If it's to rescue the young lady, then of course I will join you."
And so, a force of five, including Ronnie, was assembled.
Though their weapon stances were clumsy, their resolve was second to none.
"We're ready, Sir Knight."
The Tin Knight gave a silent nod.
Beside him stood the four men he had defeated, including the informant.
Untied and with their weapons returned, they tearfully led the way.
This was the result of the Tin Knight mercilessly beating them whenever they showed the slightest sign of trying to escape or resist.
He had also added the easy-to-understand gesture that for every one of their party members who fell, one of the guides' heads would fly as well.
When they reached their destination, they could see the bandits, feasting on meat and wine, their boisterous chatter filling the air.
In the middle of their dinner, they were completely unguarded, as if there was no one in the world who could harm them.
Drawing his sword, the Tin Knight charged forward and, without hesitation, shoved his blade into a bandit's face.
And so, the battle began.