Believe, and it will become real

"A-a true knight!"

Those words made Don Quixote's eyes widen, while Sancho's mouth fell open beside him.

"That's right, a true knight. Didn't you see them? Don Quixote, those giants are ravaging the common people's wheat fields. As a knight, how could you choose to leave?"

Ye Qiyan pointed toward the wheat field, his gaze moving between Don Quixote and the field.

Sure enough, after he said those words, Don Quixote looked toward the wheat field again. At that very moment, the windmills in the field-no, the giants-began to wreak havoc.

"Giants! Giants! That's right, Sancho, do you see them? Those are giants! Great Dragon Knight, thank you for reminding me!"

Sancho looked back and forth between Don Quixote and Ye Qiyan in bewilderment.

He even wondered whether he had gone mad. There were only windmills in the wheat field. Where were these giants?

"Master Don Quixote, those really are just..."

"Enough, Sancho. Are you questioning the Dragon Knight?"

Don Quixote excitedly put his cracked helmet back on.

"Lord Dragon Knight, you're right. How could a knight flee before battle? I will fight them!"

He turned his horse around and charged toward the wheat field once more.

From Ye Qiyan's perspective, the giants in the wheat field grew increasingly solid. They raised their arms and reached for Don Quixote.

"Giants! Prepare to die!"

Facing monsters dozens of times his size, Don Quixote showed not the slightest fear. He raised his battered lance and thrust it forward.

Bang-

The instant the lance tip touched the giant's arm, a gunshot rang out.

The bullet fired from Ebony struck the giant's palm.

At the same time, the lance in Don Quixote's hands plunged into the bullet hole.

The giant let out a howl of pain, then collapsed and did not rise again.

Don Quixote rubbed his eyes, then shouted excitedly at the giant's corpse before him.

"Haha! Sancho, did you see that? I did it! I killed a giant!"

Sancho said nothing, because he was staring in shock at Ye Qiyan beside him.

In his eyes, this unfamiliar young man had fired a flash of flame from something resembling a black flute, piercing straight through the windmill in a single shot.

"A-a mage?"

Every bullet Ye Qiyan fired landed where Don Quixote thrust his lance.

Thirty-four windmills, thirty-four giants, thirty-four charges.

Don Quixote showed not the slightest fear. His face was filled with excitement.

As one giant after another fell, the space within that rice field grew increasingly distorted.

Even Sancho rubbed his eyes, because he, too, could vaguely see those windmills turning into Long-Armed Giants.

"Giants? They really are giants that look like windmills?"

That world was changing, and Don Quixote was guiding that change.

As the giants dwindled in number, Don Quixote could pierce their bodies with his battered lance even without Ye Qiyan's gunfire to help him.

Why?

Because he had already become convinced that he could.

Just as he had already become convinced that the things in the wheat field were giants, not windmills.

This world's perception was changing along with Don Quixote.

Ye Qiyan watched it all. He understood that this was the task at this stop.

When the last giant fell, Don Quixote stood in the wheat field covered in blood, waving excitedly toward Ye Qiyan and Sancho.

"Haha, Your Excellency the Dragon Knight, my friend Sancho! Did you see that?! I succeeded! I killed all the giants! I am a true knight!"

He held his lance high, and even Old Horse Nuxing somehow looked tall and imposing.

"My friend Sancho, I didn't lie to you! Those were giants, and I am the knight who vanquished them! From now on, call me the Giant Knight!"

"Oh, and Your Excellency the Dragon Knight, the Giant Knight thanks you for your help!! Thanks to you, I did not disgrace the name of knight! I still don't know your name."

"My name is Ye Qiyan. There's no need to thank me. I only did what a knight should."

Ye Qiyan's gaze remained on the wheat field, and he did not notice Don Quixote's movements.

"To commemorate the friendship between knights, please accept this!"

A wooden round shield was offered to him, and only then did Ye Qiyan turn back in some surprise.

"You're giving it to me? What will you use after this?"

Don Quixote patted his chest.

"I will have another shield made. For our friendship, my friend Ye Qiyan, please accept it. From this day forward, you and I are allied knights. If you encounter something you cannot handle, I will certainly come to your aid!"

Ye Qiyan had not intended to accept it, but after seeing the shield's information, he changed his mind.

[Don Quixote's Round Shield]

[Use it. When you are in danger, your ally Don Quixote will come to your aid]

[Please make him believe that he faces a powerful monster]

[As a knight, he will not back down.]

[-Let this bear witness to the friendship between the Giant Knight, Don Quixote, and his friend the Dragon Knight, Ye Qiyan]

Don Quixote and Sancho left. They were going to continue their journey.

Watching their retreating figures, Ye Qiyan thought silently, Now that Don Quixote has experienced a real battle, will he still become the failure he was in the story?

Perhaps flocks of sheep really would become enemy troops, and the Knight of the White Moon really was a knight.

As long as he believed, Don Quixote would charge forward.

"What a terrifying ability. Believe, and it becomes real. I suppose this counts as changing the plot? If Don Quixote really has those powers, perhaps he won't become that failure after all? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Does this count as doing a good deed?"

"Oh, right. I wonder whether he'll have this ability at other stops, too? He probably will, right? Heh, if he really does, this is a good thing to have. All that acting wasn't wasted."

Ye Qiyan stroked the wooden shield, which had no level. If Don Quixote really could do the same thing in other worlds... then as long as he dragged things out and gave Don Quixote the confidence to believe he could win, wouldn't that make him invincible?

After putting the wooden shield back on the train, he immediately hurried toward the wheat field.

Because the thirty-four giant corpses in the field were gradually reverting to windmills.

The power of "belief" had a time limit.

Ye Qiyan had noticed this as soon as Don Quixote left the wheat field, which was why he had kept his eyes on it.

"Come out, workbench!"

It would be such a waste to simply let these monsters, which existed in fantasy, disappear.

He might as well try to see whether he could salvage anything.

As it happened, after installing the Arbitrary Processing Module, salvaging such large things was much more convenient.

[Successfully salvaged Long-Armed Giant (fantasy) corpse]

[Obtained: Giant skeleton ×1, Dream Crystal ×1, Chunk of meat ×1]

Ye Qiyan could understand the skeleton and the chunk of meat, but what was this Dream Crystal?

[Illusory Crystal]

[After consumption, allows you to awaken within a dream]

"What does that mean? Lucid dreaming? What's the use of this thing?"

Ye Qiyan did not dwell on it and continued his salvaging work.

Each corpse took ten minutes, so thirty-four would take over five hours. But accounting for the time it took the giants to revert to windmills, he should be able to salvage around thirteen corpses in the end.