I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages – Chapter 10

Not long after the Demon Race disappeared, the Windsor Knight Order gathered.

The first to arrive was Kairon. I only exchanged two words with him.

“Situation.”

“At least Demon King level. We missed him.”

“Where?”

“Main gate.”

Kairon led some knights and went to pursue them.

Cecilia didn’t stop him.

By then, Cain’s presence had already vanished. Judging by the lack of residual magic, it seemed he possessed spatial abilities.

Tracking him would be impossible.

Some knights passed by Cecilia with worried expressions.

They all sighed in relief upon realizing there were no casualties. But their expressions weren’t good.

This was already the second intrusion. The fact that there were no casualties was just luck.

“……I’ll ask. Cecilia Windsor.”

Edward wasn’t wearing his usual fake smile.

To Cecilia, that felt more comfortable than usual.

“Yes.”

“Was that your doing?”

He pointed at the broken wall and Hiter, who was barely getting up.

Cecilia spoke calmly.

“Yes.”

“I don’t need to ask about the situation. You were trying to save Hiter, weren’t you?”

“It was a dangerous situation.”

“Really? But.”

Edward looked straight at Cecilia.

“If I had gathered all the kingdom’s forces, that danger could have been eliminated. Didn’t you think of that? With your ultimate skill, you could have done it.”

“I tried to set up a barrier, but it was too much.”

*Snap.*

Edward grabbed Cecilia by the collar.

“Then you should have caught him even if it cost your life.”

Edward’s eyes burned with anger.

He gritted his teeth so hard his face twisted. After taking a moment to calm his breathing, he roughly let go of Cecilia’s collar.

“Fine. As expected, I can’t get along with you. I’m going to the royal palace. Your punishment will be decided then.”

**

Around 4 a.m.

At a time when most were asleep, the Rianen Kingdom’s Lumière Palace was bustling.

Maids who had just woken up lined up, and the royal knights maintained strict security as an emergency royal council was held.

“The reason we’re gathered here is something you all should have heard. Three hours ago, a demon identified as a Duke of the Demon Realm appeared before the sacred flame…”

Everyone had gathered except for the queen’s guardian knight and the kingdom’s strongest knight, the Sword Saint Erterion, who was absent due to unavoidable circumstances.

“What on earth has the Windsor Knight Order been doing?”

The royal knight commander, Draven, was furious even before the report ended.

“A demon roaming freely in the royal palace—!”

*Bang!*

He stood up, unable to contain his anger.

“Not just once, but twice! What do you even exist for?!”

His roar filled the council chamber.

“To begin with.”

Draven’s finger pointed at Cecilia.

“Problems arise when you recruit someone of unclear origins like this!”

“Watch your words.”

As Kairon’s heavy voice filled the room, Draven flinched slightly.

“Are you interfering with Windsor’s discipline now?”

“……That so-called Windsor discipline. Fine, let’s say the demon’s intrusion was unavoidable. Then explain this.”

Draven walked over to Cecilia.

“Why you don’t have a single scratch after facing a Duke-level demon.”

Cecilia subtly avoided his gaze. She felt the round bead in her mouth with her tongue and thought.

‘……Now?’

“Were you afraid of dying and avoided the fight?”

‘Now it is.’

*Drip.*

Red liquid flowed from the corner of Cecilia’s mouth.

“……!”

Cecilia bowed her head sorrowfully.

“I’m… sorry……”

Her silver hair fell sadly.

Draven, who had been endlessly angry until now, closed his mouth tightly.

Come to think of it, compared to her usual appearance, her face looked extremely haggard. Dark circles were heavy, and her usually neat hair was disheveled.

“Ahem.”

Draven thought of his daughter, who was probably snoring at home, around Cecilia’s age, and returned to his seat.

“Cecilia.”

But Kairon’s breathing became slightly rough.

An alarm bell rang in Cecilia’s mind.

‘Caught? It’s just tomato sauce though.’

“Did you overexert yourself, risking your life to deploy your domain?”

“……”

“I told you never to use it if you face a stronger opponent. Especially in a situation like earlier, where buying time by running away should have been the priority.”

“But……”

Cecilia added a trembling effect to her voice with wind.

“There were… people.”

After speaking, Cecilia quickly covered her mouth with her sleeve and coughed.

Her white uniform turned red.

“……”

A heavy silence fell over the council chamber. Draven broke the silence.

“The Windsor Knight Order must be disbanded. That’s my conclusion on the current situation.”

‘That can’t happen.’

I wanted to step in, but it wouldn’t look good.

“Don’t you agree? A Duke of the Demon Realm intrudes, and we only hear about it in a council meeting.”

Draven’s face was red.

“Even with the anomaly in the flame, the Windsor Knight Order acted unilaterally without any report. Does that make sense to you?”

“Political judgment is too late when fighting demons.”

“There was plenty of time this time!”

“It was the best judgment.”

“If it was the best, the demon wouldn’t have intruded! Disband or follow normal procedures like other knight orders!”

‘This is bad. This issue was already controversial, and this incident will only make it worse.’

The Windsor Knight Order was indeed a unique group.

A knight order created solely to fight demons.

Independent actions were allowed for this purpose.

Even the queen’s orders could be ignored if they deemed it unreasonable.

Of course, logically, the Windsor Knight Order couldn’t exist.

You wouldn’t find such a group anywhere in the world.

‘Kairon has to win this. If we lose even one authority, it’ll be hard to prepare for the opening.’

I was nervously watching their argument when…

“Would you like some?”

A maid with refreshments approached.

I was supposed to be pretending to be in despair, so I couldn’t possibly eat.

Just as I was about to refuse, I was startled upon seeing the maid’s face.

“……Your Majesty?”

“……!”

Everyone turned their heads.

And froze like statues.

“Mmm.”

The maid munched on a cookie and spoke to Cecilia again.

“No.”

“Is that… so.”

Cecilia, who was about to kneel, awkwardly sat back down.

Everyone was looking at her as if they’d seen a ghost.

Well, it was understandable. The maid was indeed the queen.

It was strange that we only noticed now, given how obvious it was.

“But really, won’t you have a cookie?”

But we couldn’t show any signs.

In medieval times, the king’s word was law.

Cecilia still didn’t want to die.

“Too bad. They’re delicious.”

‘What are you doing?’

‘Not eating the cookie!’

‘Do you want to be executed?’

Everyone was silently urging Cecilia with their eyes.

“Then… just one.”

Cecilia timidly brought the cookie to her mouth.

……It was incredibly delicious.

“My, but why is everyone looking this way? Please continue with what you were doing.”

“Ahem! Uh, where were we?”

“Uh, we were discussing how we need to unite in this critical situation…”

Everyone was sweating bullets as they spoke.

They tried not to look at the queen, but it was hard to avoid it consciously.

“Mmm.”

Meanwhile, the queen was happily munching on cookies.

*Bang!*

At that moment, the door burst open.

A man entered the council chamber, panting heavily.

It was the queen’s guardian knight, the Sword Saint Erterion.

He scanned the room and immediately understood the situation. His lips twitched as he approached the queen.

“……Your Majesty. It’s troublesome if you keep sneaking out like this. What will the leaders of other countries think?”

“A king must be close to their subjects to understand them, don’t you think?”

“This is too close.”

“Eek! A kidnapper!”

The queen clung to the Sword Saint’s shoulder like a sack. She struggled violently.

The Sword Saint Erterion let out a deep sigh, as if the world was ending, and left the council chamber.

“Kids! Don’t fight!”

“Quiet…! You’re lowering the kingdom’s dignity!”

*Thud.*

Even after the door closed, a deep silence lingered in the council chamber.

“……As expected.”

Cecilia recalled a long-standing concern.

‘Is this country… going to be okay?’

But despite appearances, the queen was highly respected by many.

After all, she had safely led the kingdom for 300 years.

“Everyone, let’s focus and start the council properly. This isn’t the time for this.”

Marquis Biarton smiled as he spoke. But his words carried weight.

“The Duke of the Demon Realm is stronger than we imagined.”

“According to calculations from our Tower of Truth, the demon that just intruded was at the Demon King level.”

“More investigation is needed, but… it’s uncertain if even the entire city’s forces could have killed that demon.”

Now, constructive discussions began in the council chamber.

The shocking results from the mages made Draven’s eyes widen.

“……Is that true?”

“Preparations are needed. The problem is, there’s not much we can do. We’ll have to rely on the flame.”

“Damn it.”

Draven, too, genuinely cared for this kingdom.

The paper in his hand crumpled mercilessly.

“First, we need to find out why a Duke of the Demon Realm came to the capital. Knight Cecilia. As someone who faced him directly, what do you think the reason was?”

“……He said he came to see if the Goddess’s power had weakened.”

“As expected.”

Marquis Biarton let out a sigh. It was the worst possible scenario.

“But.”

Cecilia narrowed her eyes.

If Draven brought up the topic of disbanding the Windsor Knight Order again, it would be troublesome.

‘I need to make sure he has nothing to say.’

“No matter how you look at it, it’s strange. Not only did he reveal his purpose, but he left without killing a single person.”

“That’s.”

*Gulp.*

Everyone held their breath, listening to Cecilia’s answer, which could determine the kingdom’s fate.

“Maybe it’s because I’m cute.”

Everyone in the council chamber slumped in disbelief.

**

“Edward. Are you still angry?”

Hiter scratched his head as he approached.

Edward, waiting outside the palace, looked up at the moonlight and spoke.

“How’s your body, Hiter?”

“Umm… fine. But my heart hurts more. I’m embarrassed.”

“It’s natural to feel that way after being betrayed by a comrade you trusted. Don’t take it to heart.”

Hiter sighed and spoke to Edward.

“Let me be honest. Vice-captain.”

Using his title meant he was about to say something serious.

Edward turned to look at Hiter.

“I don’t blame Cecilia.”

“No one told you to blame her. But in this case, it’s good to be properly angry. It shows how much you’ve been ignored.”

“No, I won’t be angry.”

“……Why not?”

“I felt it the moment I drew my sword.”

A bitter expression crossed Hiter’s face.

“Death.”

“……”

“My future of dying without even a slight resistance. He was that strong. Even now, I think there was nothing I could do.”

“Even so.”

Edward spoke firmly.

“Resisting demons is what we, the Windsor Knight Order, do. No matter how slim the chance, we bet everything on that chance.”

“Well, I think it was the best choice. Not provoking the demon and staying quiet.”

“Hiter!”

Seeing Edward’s angry expression, Hiter smiled faintly.

“Edward. Don’t be too hard on Cecilia. I saw it. The expression Cecilia made right before you arrived. I never knew our cute Cecilia could make such a face.”

*Chuckle.* Hiter laughed.

But the memory didn’t fade at all.

“It was the most intense killing intent I’ve ever felt. Honestly, I think even that demon might have been scared and ran away.”

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