I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages – Chapter 11

Cecilia was lying on a fluffy bed, sleeping soundly with a smile on her face.

She was having a very happy dream.

A dream about newbies coming.

A dream about helping people who were confused after the official opening.

-“The Sword Heroine is the best!”

-“Let’s make a fan club!”

She was showered with praise from the newbies.

She wished she could stay in that dream forever… Just as she was thinking that.

Swoosh-.

A mysterious shadow entered Cecilia’s room.

“……”

Cecilia naturally opened her eyes.

Soon, her dark-adapted vision caught sight of the intruder.

He was around 180 cm tall, with a sturdy build.

‘A stalker…?’

Cecilia couldn’t forgive this.

How dare someone brazenly enter the room of the most beautiful Sword Heroine in the kingdom.

And the fact that the Sword Heroine was sleeping while hugging a bunny plushie was a secret that must never be revealed.

A single word naturally crossed Cecilia’s mind.

‘Exterminate.’

She immediately gathered wind to form the shape of a sword.

“W-wait! It’s me! The Sword Saint, Ertrian! Even if we’re from different factions, we’re still comrades!”

“…A Sword Saint and a stalker?”

“No, why would you say that! That’s not it at all!”

“Save your excuses for the Goddess.”

“Hahaha! She said to save your excuses for the Goddess.”

Cecilia, still half-asleep, looked toward the window where the voice was coming from.

“That’s a masterpiece. The funniest joke I’ve heard in the last hundred years.”

Queen Lydia, sitting on the windowsill, was wiping away tears from laughing so hard.

In the faint moonlight, her reflection was incredibly beautiful.

“From the start, I said I didn’t like it! How could you rudely enter a grown lady’s room…!”

“But you’re my guardian knight, aren’t you? More than anything, I want you to get along with Cecilia.”

Lydia jumped down from the windowsill and approached Cecilia.

She was wearing a casual white dress, looking like she had just come out for a stroll, with a petite frame no different from an ordinary girl.

But her gestures and gait were somehow elegant. Even though she was wearing a plain dress, it couldn’t diminish her authority in the slightest.

“Your Majesty.”

Cecilia knelt on one knee and placed her fist over her heart.

“You may rise. Cecilia Windsor.”

Cecilia raised her head at the playful voice, only to have her cheek poked by the Queen’s finger.

“Sorry for coming so early in the morning. You must be very tired.”

“It’s alright. Why did Your Majesty come at such an early hour?”

“I have a little something to talk about. I came right after the meeting. That old geezer from the Empire is driving me crazy with stress.”

The Queen stretched with a mischievous face, but she didn’t look tired at all.

“How did the meeting go? I heard the report, but I want to hear it directly from you.”

“…Only one matter has been decided. The Windsor Knight Order’s state of emergency is lifted, and we return to normal operations.”

“That’s a bold decision for such timid children.”

“It’s the judgment of the court mage, Viaton. Maintaining the current situation wouldn’t lead to any improvement.”

“Hmm. It seems they listened well to my advice to avoid fighting. Very commendable. But… my children wouldn’t be satisfied with just that, would they?”

“No.”

The meeting ended with idle jokes, but the Royal Knight Commander Draven’s stance remained unchanged.

“The issue of restructuring the Windsor Knight Order remains. I planned to propose it to Your Majesty in the morning.”

“What does Draven want?”

“I can’t say for sure, but it seems he wants to bring the Windsor Knight Order under his command.”

‘Disbanding is out of the question.’

In the Rianen Kingdom, the Windsor Knight Order wasn’t just a military force—it was a ‘symbol.’

Disbanding such a group was unthinkable.

Realistically, Draven’s talk of ‘disbanding the Windsor Knight Order’ wasn’t his true intention.

It was a basic negotiation tactic—exaggerating to gain something smaller.

Most likely, he wanted operational command.

In short, he wanted them to follow his orders.

‘…What does the Queen think?’

Honestly, it’s hard to predict.

Only the Goddess could probably read the mind of a Queen who lives half-immortal.

“Curious about my thoughts?”

The Queen spoke as if she had read Cecilia’s mind.

Cecilia remained silent for a moment before slowly nodding.

‘In the end, it’s likely to go the Queen’s way.’

“The Windsor Knight Order must operate independently.”

She raised her finger and spoke with an enchanting smile.

“But… that must be based on trust.”

Cecilia listened intently, nervous.

“If we can’t earn their trust, I’m sorry, but I can’t insist on it either.”

‘I see.’

The Queen wants the Windsor Knight Order to continue as it is.

But at the same time, she doesn’t want any noisy disturbances.

The way to silence the noise is through achievements. Achievements that everyone can nod to.

However, while Cecilia fully understood the Queen’s intentions, she was still puzzled.

“Why are you telling me this?”

It was strange that the Queen would come personally and go this far.

Not to Kairon or Edward, but to her, just a high-ranking knight.

“Because you saved me once. Maybe you can do it twice.”

“Me?”

Cecilia tried to recall, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t remember such an event.

The Queen whispered as if revealing a great secret.

“That cat you saved from the tree back then—it was me.”

“……!”

“I’m quietly expecting it. Cecilia Windsor. I look forward to your performance.”

“Your Majesty! When did you sneak out again… Eh, where are you going! Why are you turning into a cat again!”

The Queen jumped out the window, pursued by the Sword Saint. Cecilia stood there dumbfounded.

‘So she can turn into a cat too.’

From now on, she’d have to be careful even of passing leaves.

A Queen who transforms into animals for surprise inspections—that was a complete disaster.

**

Edward sat in his office, basking in the lazy afternoon sunlight, reading a report.

[Top Secret Document—The Demon Duke’s Attack on the Capital.]

-The knights who faced the Duke all complained of pain.

-Even Hiter, a high-ranking Sword Demon, was unable to respond in any way.

Simulation result: Annihilation.

-However, in one out of 5,921 simulations, there was a single case of victory.

-If Sword Heroine Cecilia’s Wind Shear could hold him for about 5 minutes and 30 seconds, Sword Saint Ertrian and Sword Monarch Kairon could kill him with their maximum output.

Warning! The capital would likely be destroyed in the process.

Warning! Kairon Windsor might disobey orders.

Warning! The maximum observed limit of Wind Shear is 2 minutes and 29 seconds. Effectively impossible in reality.

Conclusion: The Sword Heroine’s decision to avoid combat was the best course of action. Cecilia Windsor’s punishment is illogical.

“…Hiter was right.”

Edward calmly closed the document.

The kingdom’s mages are excellent. The probability of their analysis being wrong is almost zero.

“I missed a golden opportunity. The Goddess never gives me the one thing I truly want.”

He chuckled, stood up, and looked out the window.

Just then, he saw Cecilia walking by with an expressionless face.

‘What are you thinking?’

Edward drew a line on the window where Cecilia’s neck was.

His gaze was sharp, and his touch was sensitive.

“Did you really do your best, as this report says?”

Edward kept seeing Cecilia’s figure flicker in his mind.

“There are too many suspicious parts for that.”

‘Killing intent.’

When the incident occurred, Edward had rushed over immediately.

The killing intent Hiter saw, Edward saw it too. But his interpretation was slightly different.

It was a fundamental question.

‘Since when could the weak emit killing intent?’

Killing intent is an emotion that comes out when you want to kill but hold back.

Of course, there are times when foolish weaklings show excessive killing intent.

But Edward felt that Cecilia had ‘deliberately’ let the demon go.

“Why?”

If that speculation is true, this question remains.

For what purpose?

‘Was it to prevent harm to people?’

If so-

If she let the demon go for such a trivial reason…

Plop.

“Too much.”

A tear fell from Edward’s eye.

It was filled with pity, more than anything else.

“Too pitiful.”

He wiped his tears and shook his head.

A knight who can’t kill her enemy for fear of harming insects.

What kind of contradiction is this?

‘It must be because of Kairon. Her brilliant talent has lost its light.’

Edward didn’t like Cecilia.

She was arrogant, always doubting him and provoking him at every turn.

But whether he liked her or not, she was a member of the Windsor Knight Order.

Pity is pity.

Edward opened a drawer with sad eyes.

“Sorry, Cecilia. I… can’t save you.”

He took out a piece of paper from inside.

It was a mission order that looked quite old.

“Only in this way.”

Knock knock-.

Just then, a faint knocking sound was heard.

A light presence, as if the wind was standing still.

Even without hearing the voice, Edward knew who was at the door.

“Come in, Cecilia.”

Creak-.

Cecilia entered, looking a bit cautious.

“Sorry for calling you during your off-duty time.”

“It’s alright. I had something to say too.”

“Something to say?”

“Thank you for last time.”

She bowed her head with perfect etiquette.

‘…What is she thanking me for?’

Edward couldn’t understand. And his face stiffened at her next words.

“Thanks to your advice, it was a big help.”

‘This report must have gone to Cecilia too. So, is she mocking me?’

Her clear mistake had already been revealed in the report.

Bringing it up again was nothing but mockery.

Of course, Cecilia was just sincerely thanking him, saying, ‘Thanks to you, I could bring tomato sauce.’

“Sorry about that. I was flustered and panicked at the time.”

“No. It was a reasonable critique. I want to repay you… Is there anything you want from me?”

‘This is ridiculous.’

Her attitude was extremely irritating, but this time Edward could endure it.

“Of course there is.”

He was very interested in the outcome of what was about to happen.

“There’s one thing I realized from this incident.”

Edward slowly flipped through the documents and raised his head.

“How weak the Windsor Knight Order has become recently.”

He smiled as he spoke. But that smile was somewhat ominous.

“Could you train some apprentice knights? There’s a suitable dungeon.”

Cecilia paused for a moment.

“…A suitable dungeon?”

“Yes. Suitable.”

Cecilia quickly skimmed the mission order, seemingly thinking something over.

Edward leisurely sipped his tea while waiting.

If she reports to Kairon, he might refuse. But she won’t be able to refuse.

‘Do you know why a venomous snake is scary, Cecilia?’

She was still young, raised with the wrong education.

‘You know it has venom, but you don’t know how strong that venom is.’

He hoped she would realize it through this incident.

That what the world needs isn’t insignificant insects, but ultimately, the talented.

“No.”

Edward’s relaxed expression shattered.

“What?”

“Not a suitable one. I’ll go to an unsolved dungeon.”

“An… unsolved dungeon?”

Cecilia nodded.

“That’s the only way to train properly.”

“……”

Edward couldn’t understand what Cecilia was thinking with that small head of hers.

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