Chapter 37

Cecilia panicked at the reduced number of recruits, but she still had to do what she had to do.

“From now on, you will live under the name of Windsor. But.”

Cecilia paused for a moment as she looked at the overly excited newbies standing stiffly.

…What was the line I was supposed to say during the initiation again?

Ah, right. This was it.

“Just because you hold a sword doesn’t make you a knight. Just because you wear a white cloak doesn’t make you a Windsor.”

“A true knight must first understand what their sword-wielding hand exists for before they even fight with it.”

“The Windsor sword is not just a weapon. It is the shield of the kingdom, the hope of the people, and a vow to protect your comrades.”

Cecilia’s tone couldn’t have been more monotonous.

But perhaps because of that, her words struck deep into everyone’s hearts.

“The place you stand now is one of glory, but at the same time, it comes with responsibility.”

Here, Cecilia dropped the formalities. It was her way of acknowledging them as true knights of Windsor.

“If you seek honor, learn responsibility first. If you seek strength, realize why you need to become stronger. Are you ready to bear the name of Windsor?”

The rookie knights answered loudly.

“Yes!”

Cecilia nodded approvingly and sat down at the edge of the podium.

She pulled out the membership badges from her pocket—super passes that would get them treated like royalty anywhere in the kingdom.

“Come here. Let me hand these out.”

But there were 30 of those badges.

“…”

Cecilia’s expression turned sour.

Where did everyone go?

In the end, she had to track each one down to hand them out.

It was exhausting.

**

Strange rumors spread through the headquarters of the Windsor Knight Order.

-Cecilia went full-on Cecilia!

-She beat everyone senseless with a wooden sword and wiped out all the rookies!

-They got so shocked, everyone ran away!

But upon hearing this news, the members reacted unexpectedly.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“How else do you think I got into this knight order?”

“If you don’t have what it takes, leaving is the right choice, isn’t it?”

“Failing is the right outcome if you’re not qualified.”

“I spent 15 years trying to get in.”

The Windsor Knight Order. The Rianen Kingdom’s most prestigious yet painfully difficult-to-join knight order.

Always described as the best and strongest knight order around.

Naturally, the pride the Windsor knights felt in this title was immense.

There was even a saying that it was harder to join the Windsor Knight Order than to pluck stars from the sky.

So lowering the standards for recruitment?

Even though they understood the necessity, secretly, everyone was dissatisfied.

One slippery fish could muddy the waters.

In such a situation, Cecilia showing her ‘get lost’ attitude earned enough support (?) within the knight order.

“That’s our Cecilia for you!”

“The last bastion protecting the Windsor Knight Order!”

“The Queen should officially designate Cecilia as the Windsor Knight Order mascot!”

“The Queen needs to wake up!”

“You crazy bastard!”

Some odd requests were mixed in, but the knight order already adored Cecilia, and this tendency only grew stronger.

Boundless praise rained down. The problem? Cecilia, whose self-love was world-class, became subtly arrogant, and meanwhile, Edward…

“Hmm. Designating her as a mascot is actually a good idea. Cecilia could be a great ‘symbol.’”

He was trying to stir things up so Cecilia wouldn’t gain too much power.

Amidst the chaos, Kairon ordered someone to bring the knight who yelled at the queen to wake up, then clutched his aching head.

“This is driving me insane.”

Hehe.

Cecilia proudly flaunted her authority, hands on her hips.

Already half her head was covered in flowers, but after this incident, she became a full-blown flower garden.

Kairon could only sigh.

“Cecilia. As the next vice-captain, do you have any thoughts on this situation?”

Hehe.

Cecilia proudly bit her tongue slightly.

Kairon couldn’t take it anymore and slammed the table as he stood up.

“I’m not praising you!”

Bang.

Cecilia blinked, her happiness balloon popped by Kairon’s roar. She finally came to her senses after 72 hours.

“…Are you back to your senses?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me. What impact do you think this situation will have?”

Without hesitation, Cecilia replied.

“Negative opinions about lowering the cutoff line are forming within the knight order.”

“…And?”

“If this sentiment solidifies, there’s a risk that the kingdom’s critical decision might fall apart. Pushing forward recklessly could lower the morale of the knight order.”

“Solution?”

“Give me five minutes, and I’ll think of something.”

Cecilia rolled her big eyes around.

Watching her think, Kairon softened slightly.

Now this was the Cecilia he knew.

Exactly five minutes later, Cecilia spoke while clasping her hands behind her back.

“We might need to create ranks within the knight order.”

“Ranks, huh.”

Kairon folded his hands. Cecilia spoke without hesitation.

“Currently, the Windsor Knight Order is divided into senior knights and regular knights, two categories.”

“True. But creating new ranks now might cause backlash.”

“It would only apply to the new recruits. I suggest we label those who pass this test as ‘Beginners.'”

“Beginners, huh… Practically speaking, how would that differ?”

There were many ways to handle it. Cecilia had modern knowledge at her disposal.

Something like a residency system for doctors, where they automatically advance after completing certain years, could work.

But that didn’t fit the Windsor Knight Order. What mattered here wasn’t experience but skill.

Therefore, Cecilia thought of ‘non-regular employees.’

‘It’s a harsh system, but nothing works better.’

“Beginners would have limited privileges unique to the Windsor Knight Order. For instance, restricting investigative rights and banning killings should suffice.”

“Reasonable.”

“We can also reduce their pay and remove bonuses.”

“Won’t that create dissatisfaction among the new recruits?”

“In exchange, once they reach a reasonable level of skill—basically, the level expected of a Windsor knight—we’ll promote them to regular knights.”

This way, existing knights would accept it, and the new recruits, though somewhat dissatisfied, would understand.

After all, anyone could see the difference in skill by challenging any random passing Windsor knight to a duel.

“By creating opportunities for growth and respecting the rights of existing members, I believe this is the optimal solution.”

Cecilia smiled proudly again.

This time, Kairon didn’t scold her.

“Good job. You’ve shown practical skills worthy of a vice-captain.”

Hehe.

Cecilia grinned widely again. Before her head could turn into a complete flower garden, Kairon interrupted.

“However, why did this situation happen in the first place?”

“……”

Cecilia quickly became gloomy and stared at the floor diagonally.

“There was nothing wrong with the recruitment test itself. That is, if it were ‘normal’ circumstances.”

Kairon was right.

Considering the usual standards of the Windsor Knight Order, Cecilia hadn’t gone overboard at all.

Even the weakest knight currently in the Windsor Knight Order could have overcome that kind of adversity.

“But this time, the situation is different. We need to somehow accept and nurture those with some talent. You haven’t forgotten the conclusion of the last meeting, have you?”

“……Nope.”

“Apparently, the 25 who fled have completely lost their will to fight.”

Kairon said this calmly.

“Still, it’s fine. People learn from mistakes. What did you learn from this? What do you think you did wrong?”

‘Dunno.’

Cecilia was getting fuzzy.

Truthfully, she had no clue, which was why her head had turned into a flower garden.

‘Even thinking about it again, I can’t figure it out.’

Was the test too hard?

If it was, there was no reason to run after being told they passed.

Cecilia clearly had no idea, and Kairon sighed, having expected as much.

“When I observe quietly, you tend to always miss something very obvious.”

“……”

“Think about your age.”

“I’m 16.”

“Right. At just 16 years old, you crushed the pride of those who’ve lived their entire lives staring at swords.”

“Ah.”

“If you’d done it moderately, it could’ve been a motivator for growth, but you went too far. Like playing with children, you didn’t even use your blessing and knocked down 60 applicants with just a wooden sword.”

And not a single collar was touched.

As Kairon spoke, an inexplicable sense of pride and admiration welled up, but he suppressed it.

“At least bring back 20 people. Five is too few.”

That was the conclusion. Cecilia confidently put on her ‘hood.’

A cosmetic item she bought for a whopping 4 gold coins.

“……What’s that now?”

“Bounty hunter Cecilia, commencing pursuit.”

Kairon’s face turned incredulous.

**

Though that’s what she said, she had no intention of catching those who had already fled.

Once someone tucks their tail and runs, they’re bound to run again.

Besides, the Windsor Knight Order wasn’t some neighborhood corner store to be treated so carelessly.

Hmph, like I’m desperate enough to recruit you guys?

Cecilia snorted and decided to draw a firm line.

“……But what to do. I have nowhere to find 15 more people.”

Cecilia slowly thought as she walked through the capital.

Even digging a well isn’t easy to find.

There was no immediate way to find knights ready for actual combat deployment.

Of course, there might still be people coming from distant lands after seeing the announcement.

But judging from this incident, most probably wouldn’t pass.

Lowering the standard didn’t mean accepting just anyone.

“Hmm. To catch fish, you go to the sea. To find trees, you go to the forest.”

The easiest place that came to mind was, of course, the battlefield.

Not the war against the Demon Race, but places where territorial battles were happening.

Finding a few decent mercenaries there wouldn’t be hard at all.

But recently, she’d been on a long business trip, and going outside the capital seemed bothersome.

Cecilia kicked the sandy ground in frustration.

“……Oh.”

Great ideas really do come during walks, huh.

Cecilia suddenly started running.

Her destination? The Royal Knight Order!

‘Unless they’re freelance knights, they have to resign to take the test.’

According to the principle of no dual employment, quitting their current knight order was a given if they wanted to apply elsewhere.

Unless they had serious grievances, no one would take such a reckless gamble.

Which was why there were very few from other knight orders in this test.

‘Let’s harvest some fresh recruits!’

That was Cecilia’s brilliant idea.

Newbie poaching!

Just like how even billionaires think, “One watermelon missing from a huge field won’t be noticed, right?”

If the Royal Knight Order was the second most prestigious after Windsor, there’d surely be plenty of ripe watermelons!

‘I’m such a genius.’

“Alright, it’s been a while since we’ve done rankings. Everyone pick someone you think is manageable and duel them.”

It seemed to be ranking time.

The Windsor Knight Order didn’t bother with that (most figured they’d rather hunt one more demon instead), but for other knight orders, lining people up was a time-honored tradition.

Cecilia peeked at them through the fence like a wagging-tailed retriever.

“……”

Of course, Cecilia stood out even from 10 meters away.

The Royal Knight Order, about to choose their sparring partners, found their attention stolen by the white cat.

“Captain, can we choose an outsider for the duel?”

“……What?”

“That damn Windsor rat is here.”

At that moment, a hot-headed young knight walked toward Cecilia.

Captain Draven was slightly flustered, but it was too late to stop him.

“Hey, brat.”

Cecilia looked up at the knight picking a fight.

‘Not bad. Sword Demon level, maybe.’

“You know, I hate people like you the most.”

The knight sneered.

Cecilia countered.

“I also hate ugly people.”

“……”

Dick’s face flushed red as he gritted his teeth.

“You Winstons gain fame without effort, hiding behind your reputation. Sword Heroine? Isn’t that position just due to your pretty face?”

That was the worst insult you could throw at a female knight.

But it didn’t faze Cecilia.

To her, being pretty was the most important value.

“What, feeling bitter? Then draw your sword. Of course, I don’t know if you have the guts for it.”

Dick grinned, baring his teeth.

More than enough to piss anyone off.

But Cecilia slightly raised the corners of her lips.

‘PKs are always welcome.’

Because that was her favorite type of content.

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