I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages.

Not long after the demon disappeared, the Windsor Knights gathered.

Cairon arrived first. Only two exchanges were made with him.

“The situation.”

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

“Which way?”

“The main gate.”

Cairon led some knights to track them.

Sisilia didn’t try to stop them.

Cain’s presence had already vanished. Given that not even traces of magical power remained, he seemed to possess spatial-type abilities.

Tracking him would be impossible.

Several knights passed by Sisilia with worried expressions.

They were all relieved to find there were no casualties. But their expressions weren’t good.

They had already allowed intrusion twice. Having no casualties was just luck.

“…Let me ask you, Sisilia Windsor.”

Edward wasn’t wearing his usual artificial smile.

To Sisilia, that felt more comfortable than usual.

“Yes.”

“Was that your doing?”

He pointed to the broken wall.

And to Hyder, who was barely managing to get up.

Sisilia spoke calmly.

“Yes.”

“I can guess the situation without asking. You tried to save Hyder.”

“It was a dangerous situation.”

“Oh? But.”

Edward looked directly at Sisilia.

“If we gathered all the forces in the capital, we could have certainly eliminated that threat. Didn’t you consider that? With your Ultimate Technique, it would have been possible.”

“I did put up a barrier, but it was impossible.”

Whoosh-

Edward firmly grabbed Sisilia’s collar.

“Then you should have captured him even at the cost of your life.”

Edward’s eyes burned with fury.

His expression was completely distorted from how hard he was grinding his teeth.

After taking a moment to steady his breathing, he roughly released Sisilia’s collar.

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

***

Around 4 AM.
At a time when most were asleep, the Lumiere Palace of the Rianen Kingdom was bustling with activity.

While newly awakened maids lined up and the Royal Knights maintained strict security, an emergency royal council was convened.

“I believe you’ve all heard why we’re gathered here. Three hours ago, a demon identified as a Demon Duke appeared before the sacred flame…”

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

“Just what has the Windsor Knight Order been doing?”

Draven, the Royal Knight Commander, erupted in anger before the report could even finish.

“To have a demon freely walking in the kingdom—!”

Bang!

He stood up from his seat as if unable to contain his anger.

“And not just once, but twice! What do you exist for!”

His roar filled the council chamber.

“In the first place.”

Draven’s finger pointed at Sisilia.

“This is what happens when you recruit someone of unclear origins!”

“Watch your words.”

Draven flinched momentarily when Cairon’s heavy voice settled over the council chamber.

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

“…Those precious Windsor rules. Fine. Let’s be extremely generous and say the demon’s intrusion was unavoidable. Then explain this.”

Draven walked from his seat to stand in front of Sisilia.

“Why don’t you have a single injury after encountering a Duke-level demon?”

Sisilia subtly avoided his gaze. She felt the round bead in her mouth with her tongue while thinking.

‘…Is it time?’

“Did you avoid battle because you were afraid to die?”

‘Yes, it’s time.’

Drip.

Red liquid trickled from Sisilia’s mouth.

“…!”

Sisilia bowed her head pitifully.

“I’m… sorry…”

Her silver hair flowed down sorrowfully.

Draven, who had been endlessly angry until now, shut his mouth firmly.

Come to think of it, considering her usual appearance, wasn’t her face extremely haggard? Her dark circles were deep, and her usually neat hair was disheveled.

“Ahem.”

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

“Sisilia.”

However, Cairon’s breathing became slightly rough.

An alarm bell rang in Sisilia’s head.

‘Did he catch on? Even though it’s just tomato sauce.’

“Did you force yourself to deploy your Domain even at the risk of death?”

“……”

“I must have told you never to use it against opponents stronger than you. Especially in that situation, priority should have been buying time by running away.”

“But…”

Sisilia added a trembling effect to her voice using wind.

“There were… people there.”

After finishing her words, Sisilia hurriedly covered her mouth with her sleeve and coughed.

Her white uniform was stained red.

“……”

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

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

‘That won’t work.’

Though she wanted to step in, it wouldn’t look good.

“Don’t you agree? A Demon Duke-level being invaded, and we only hear about it at this council meeting.”

Draven’s face was red.

“Moreover, even when the flame showed anomalies, the Windsor Knight Order moved independently without any reports. Do you think this makes sense?”

“Political considerations slow us down when fighting demons.”

“This time, there was plenty of time!”

“It was the best judgment we could make.”

“If it was the best judgment, there wouldn’t have been any demon intrusion! Either disband or follow normal procedures like other knight orders!”

‘This is bad. This issue was already controversial, and with this incident, it could get bigger.’

The Windsor Knight Order was certainly an unusual group.

A knight order created solely to deal with demons.

They were allowed to act independently for that purpose.

Even if it was the Queen’s order, they could ignore it if they judged it unreasonable.

Naturally, logically speaking, the Windsor Knight Order couldn’t exist.

There wouldn’t be such a group anywhere else in the world.

‘Cairon needs to win this. If we lose authority, it’ll be difficult to prepare for the opening.’

While tensely watching their verbal battle, something happened.

“Would you like some?”

A maid carrying refreshments approached.

Given her position of pretending to be dejected, she couldn’t eat.

Just as she was about to refuse, she flinched upon seeing the maid’s face.

“…Your Majesty?”

“…!”

Everyone turned their heads.

And froze like stones.

“Hmm.”

The maid ate some cookies and then spoke to Sisilia again.

“No, I’m not.”

“Is… that so.”

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

Everyone was looking this way with faces like they’d seen a ghost.

Well, they couldn’t help it. The woman in the maid outfit was indeed the Queen.

It was so obvious that it was strange why they hadn’t noticed sooner.

“But really, won’t you have any cookies?”

However, they couldn’t show they knew.

True to the medieval period, the king’s word was law.

Sisilia didn’t want to die yet.

“That’s too bad. They’re delicious.”

‘What are you doing?’

‘Eat the cookie!’

‘Do you want to be executed?’

Everyone was speaking to Sisilia with their eyes.

“Then… just one.”

Sisilia timidly brought a cookie to her mouth.

…It was incredibly delicious.

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

“Ahem! W-where were we in our discussion?”

“G-given the urgent situation, we were talking about working together…”

Everyone spoke while sweating.

Though they wanted to avoid looking at the Queen, they couldn’t help but consciously glance her way.

“Mm-hmm.”

Meanwhile, the Queen was happily eating cookies.

Bang!

Just then, the door burst open roughly.

A man entered the council chamber, breathing heavily.

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

He scanned the room once, instantly grasped the situation, and approached the Queen with twitching lips.

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

“Don’t you think a ruler needs to be close to their subjects to understand them?”

“This is too close.”

“Kyaa! A maid kidnapper!”

The Queen was slung over the Sword Saint’s shoulder like a package. She struggled tremendously.

Sword Saint Erterion left the council chamber with a deep sigh that seemed like it could shake the world.

“Let me down! Let me free!”

“Please be quiet…! You’re lowering the nation’s dignity!”

Tap-

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

“…Still the same as ever.”

Sisilia recalled a worry she had long harbored.

‘Will this country be okay?’

But despite being like that, the Queen had earned the respect of many people.

After all, she was the Queen who had successfully led the kingdom for 300 years.

“Everyone, let’s get our minds back on track and start the real council meeting. This isn’t the time for this.”

Duke Biaten spoke with a bright smile. But his words carried weight.

“The Demon Duke’s power was beyond imagination-”

“According to our Truth Magic Tower’s calculations, the demon that just invaded was Demon King level.”

“Though more investigation is needed… it’s uncertain whether we could have killed that demon even if we had mobilized all the city’s forces.”

The council chamber finally had some constructive dialogue going.

Draven’s eyes widened at the shocking results from the magicians.

“…Is this true?”

“We need preparations. The problem is there’s nothing we can prepare. We can only rely on the flame.”

“Damn it.”

Draven was also someone who genuinely cared about this country.

The paper in his grip was mercilessly crumpled.

“First, we need to understand why a being of Demon Duke level came to the capital. Miss Sisilia, as someone who faced him directly, what do you think was the cause?”

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

“As I thought.”

Duke Biaten let out a contemplative sound. It was the worst possible pattern.

“However,”

Sisilia narrowed her eyes.

It would be troublesome if Draven brought the topic back to ‘disbanding the Windsor Knight Order’ here.

‘I need to somehow leave him with nothing to say.’

“It’s strange no matter how you look at it. Not only did he reveal all his objectives, but he withdrew without killing a single person.”

“That’s…”

Gulp-

Everyone held their breath and listened intently to Sisilia’s voice, which might determine the kingdom’s future fate.

“Probably because I’m cute.”

Everyone in the council chamber deflated.

***

“Edward, are you still angry?”

Hyder approached while scratching his head.

Waiting outside the palace, Edward looked up at the moonlight briefly before speaking.

“How’s your body, Hyder?”

“Hmm… I’m fine physically. It’s just my pride that’s hurt. From embarrassment.”

“It’s natural since you were ambushed by a trusted comrade. Don’t take it to heart.”

Hyder sighed and said to Edward.

“I’ll be honest, Vice Commander.”

Using his rank meant he was going to say something serious.

Edward turned to look at Hyder.

“I don’t resent Sisilia.”

“No one told you to resent her. It’s better to show anger properly in this case. It proves how much she usually disrespects you.”

“No, I won’t even get angry.”

“…Why not?”

“Because I felt it the moment I extended my sword.”

Bitterness colored Hyder’s expression.

“Death.”

“……”

“My future where I would die without being able to offer even slight resistance. That’s how strong he was. Even thinking about it now, I feel it was unavoidable.”

“Even so.”

Edward spoke firmly.

“We Windsor Knights exist to oppose demons. Windsor puts everything on that possibility, no matter how slim.”

“Well, I think that was the best choice. Not antagonizing the demon and staying quietly put.”

“Hyder!”

Seeing Edward’s anger-mixed expression, Hyder smiled faintly.

“Edward, don’t be too hard on Sisilia. I saw it. The expression Sisilia had just before you came. Man, I never knew our cute Sisilia could make such an expression.”

Heh, Hyder laughed.

But it remained completely undiminished in his mind.

“I’ve never felt such killing intent in my life. Honestly, I think even that demon might have run away scared.”