I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages.

“This is truly troublesome.”

Edward Windsor.

A man who obtained the title of Sword King at the young age of 37 and is considered the next Knight Commander.

“You seem to particularly dislike me. Did I do something to make you hate me?”

Sisilia neither particularly disliked nor liked him.

She just considered him as a workplace superior, that’s all.

However, she did know that Edward strongly disliked her for some reason.

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

Edward’s eyes narrowed slightly.

His distaste showed on his face.

At a timing where one would expect a sigh, he gently raised the corners of his mouth.

“Is that so? Then that’s a relief.”

His voice was kind again. But there was something sharp mixed in.

“You’ve dealt with all the demons, right?”

“Yes.”

“As expected, you’re capable. But you know,”

Edward glanced at the altar where flames were burning.

“Demons should naturally avoid those sacred flames, so it’s a bit strange that they infiltrated just for that.”

“Yes. I think so too.”

“Just in case the demons did something- could you watch over the flames? For about a day or two.”

‘This is too much.’

The sacred flames were the Goddess’ blessing.

There was no way lowly demons could do anything to an absolute existence that even the Demon King couldn’t touch.

This was clearly just a superior’s nitpicking, saying, “So why are you crawling up?”

However, Sisilia replied indifferently.

“Understood.”

“I’m counting on you. I could entrust this to someone else, but you’re the most reliable after all.”

Edward patted Sisilia’s shoulder with a good-natured face and left.

“Ah, Vice-Captain.”

Edward’s footsteps stopped.

He slowly turned his head.

“What?”

“The sewers, what business did you have there?”

Edward’s face was colored with displeasure.

But Sisilia looked at Edward without the slightest movement.

“…A guard was dead, so I just moved the corpse to a safe place. Is your doubt resolved?”

“Yes.”

Sisilia bowed her head.

“Sisilia, you really have no flexibility. This task suits you very well.”

“Thank you.”

Always looking at the situation intuitively, coldly.

Not even a sliver of a gap to pry into.

Like her neat attire, her very existence is perfect and flawless.

Even in this situation, there’s not the slightest emotional agitation.

That was Sisilia.

To Edward, such a Sisilia was like a fishbone.

Clearly irritating.

“If you have nothing more to say, may I go?”

“Yes.”

Sisilia stared at Edward’s back for a long time.

When he completely disappeared, she quietly sat on a wooden bench.

Her rippling silver hair swayed faintly in the wind.

And she smiled softly.

‘His affection must have increased, right?’

An old story she heard in the order.

A legendary tale of a new recruit who rightly stood up to the captain and was eventually praised.

She remembered this being exactly that kind of situation. Probably.

“…Should I have said this flame watching punishment is unjust while I was at it?”

But if she had objected that far, he might have disliked her for disobeying a superior’s order.

It seemed to be the best course of action, but…

Sisilia sighed and looked at the altar.

The brightly burning flames.

Telling her to watch this all day, for two days at that, was just a punishment.

After all, the flames hadn’t wavered once in 500 years.

Sisilia could bet Cairon’s annual salary on the safety of those flames.

That’s how absolutely impossible it was for them to suddenly waver now…

“…Huh.”

Sisilia blinked, unable to believe what was happening before her eyes.

The flames were wavering.

Cairon’s annual salary… had flown away.

***

Windsor Knights regular meeting.

An important occasion to discuss the future direction of the order.

…That was just the official stance, and in reality, it was a place to make jokes and relax with the sentiment of “let’s take a break too.”

“Don’t lie, seriously.”

But today was different.

For the first time in a while, an agenda item made the regular meeting feel like an actual meeting.

“Why is it wavering? Why is there a problem with the sacred flames in my twilight years!”

Bang!

Unable to contain his anger, Jerry slammed his fist on the round table.

Sisilia, who was sitting across from him, flinched.

‘That startled me.’

“I’m retiring in 5 years. There’s only 5 years left…”

“Jerry. Be quiet. You’re scaring Sisilia.”

Leorik spoke gruffly.

The young boy next to him frowned.

“Tsk, how undignified. A knight who doesn’t want to work. How did such a terrible mongrel get into Windsor?”

The boy’s name was Lude. Despite his appearance, he was actually 50 years old.

He smiled brightly at Sisilia and patted her head.

“In comparison, our youngest is so admirable. Immediately detecting the anomaly in the flames.”

Sisilia remained still, feeling poked.

Sisilia’s head tilted due to the height difference.

“Hand.”

“Pardon?”

Cairon, who had been silently observing until now, spoke softly.

“Remove your hand. Before I cut it off.”

“Ah, yes.”

For a moment, death flashed in Lude’s eyes.

“Hahaha, I’m glad everyone is the same as always. Seeing this after so long makes me happy.”

The knight, laughing with tears in his eyes, was named Hyder.

His roughly groomed beard was impressive.

But in an instant, he shouted in anger.

“But you’re doing this even in this situation!”

“Hyder, calm down.”

“No, am I the weird one? There’s an anomaly in the sacred flames, but you’re just cracking jokes?! Are you all in your right minds!”

“Ugh, don’t shout. It’s coming up.”

“You lunatic! Vomit outside!”

Sisilia just felt dizzy.

It was a knight order with strong personalities. Especially the 7 high-ranking knights gathered here.

They were all out of their minds.

Of course, Sisilia excluded herself.

‘…Just in case, I should prepare to blow it away with wind.’

Vomit is a bit much, isn’t it?

Sisilia decided to keep a close eye on the knight, who was about to vomit.

“Silence.”

At that moment, Cairon’s low voice dominated the space.

The noisy hall instantly quieted down.

“Let’s start the meeting.”

At that, the knights’ expressions became more serious.

Everyone followed the commander’s words well, even if they knew more about the situation.

They had no choice.

Sword King Cairon.

The knight of knights.

A person respected by everyone here.

“As you all may have heard beforehand, this meeting is about the ‘instability of the flames’ detected by Sisilia. Her Majesty said she would respect the decision of the Windsor Knights. In other words, the kingdom will move according to the future policy of the Windsor Knights.”

‘Will it be okay?’

Sisilia was honestly a bit unsatisfied.

Is it really okay to leave it in the hands of these people…?

But as if that doubt was unfounded, the meeting proceeded surprisingly normally (?).

“First, call back all the guys who haven’t returned yet. The current front lines are stable, and if the capital collapses, everything collapses anyway.”

“As Lude said, let’s operate the capital defense defensively for the time being. Until we find something, at least.”

“Knights with good mobility. For example, Sisilia should search for nearby demons, while the rest focus on the interior. That seems right.”

Some constructive conversations went back and forth.

After slowly listening to all of them, Cairon now looked at Edward.

“What is the vice-captain’s opinion?”

“I generally agree. It’s nice that everyone becomes serious in these aspects despite being playful.”

Edward smiled good-naturedly, then spoke coldly.

“Let’s have the mage Lude investigate the phenomenon of the wavering flames, and as everyone said, it would be best to strengthen the capital’s defense. We shouldn’t neglect our guard in this situation.”

It was a correct statement.

Sisilia also definitely thought it was reasonable.

But Cairon seemed to have a different idea.

“Really, is that enough?”

“Pardon?”

“Is that what you really think?”

‘He’s suspicious.’

Cairon appeared no different from usual, but Sisilia, who had been close to him, read the ‘deep suspicion’ hidden beneath his expression.

What point was he suspicious about?

Edward smiled a bit exasperatedly and said,

“Commander, what are you trying to say to me?”

“…No, it’s nothing. Sisilia, what do you think?”

‘There’s a high possibility the main story is moving.’

Sisilia knew that the ‘official launch’ wasn’t far off.

That also meant there wouldn’t be any major demon movements until the ‘official launch.’

Because if the world was eaten by demons from the tutorial, the game wouldn’t progress.

In that case.

“I think it’s time to recruit new members.”

“Oh? Do go on.”

“There’s a high possibility that demon activity will gradually expand around the capital. If the shortage of troops continues, it could be fatal. I propose moving up next year’s entrance test’ as much as possible before it’s too late.”

Unexpectedly, Edward also supported Sisilia’s opinion.

“I agree with that too. We need to find talented individuals, even one, before the demons make a move.”

Cairon thought for a moment, then said,

“Alright. I’ll consider it positively.”

Sisilia’s complexion brightened a little.

“Then, I’ll conclude this regular meeting here. Everyone, act with vigilance. This situation differs from others.”

“”Yes.””

***

Sisilia’s steps as she returned home were light.

Of course, her steps after work were always light, but today they were particularly so.

‘Finally, finally…’

She felt a renewed sense of emotion.

How long had she been looking forward to this moment?

‘New recruits are coming!’

Almost 10 years of life in the order.

She became a high-ranking knight, but she couldn’t comfortably give orders due to her low entrance class.

Of course, this was a Western cultural sphere, so they didn’t judge by age, but-

It was difficult to discard the habits she grew up with in a country of Eastern etiquette.

So even when there was dirty work, she did it without a word-

But if new recruits come in, the situation changes.

The amount of work will be greatly reduced!

‘Then I can focus a bit more on preparing for the launch.’

And- can’t the new knights also be called ‘newbies’?

It was very encouraging for Sisilia.

“Welcome back, young lady.”

“Yeah.”

“I will prepare your bath.”

“I want to take it a bit later today.”

“No can do.”

“Okay.”

She couldn’t refuse after all.

Because Mary is scary when she’s angry.

“Has the commander returned?”

“He’s been waiting for you.”

“I’ll take a bath then.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare it in advance.”

The maid Mary bowed her head. Sisilia passed by her and headed to the office.

Knock knock-

Hearing the words to come in, Sisilia opened the door.

Cairon was sitting at the center of a perfectly symmetrical table.

“I’m sorry.”

Sisilia apologized right away.

“For what?”

“I lost the commander’s precious annual salary.”

Cairon, looking at a mountain of documents, blankly raised his head.

“…Did you make a bet?”

“Yes.”

“With whom?”

“I made it with myself.”

Cairon bit his lip.

“Sisilia.”

But Cairon had also improved in dealing with Sisilia.

“Your allowance won’t come back.”

Sisilia was greatly shocked.