Chapter 46: I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages

Ancient Ruins Exploration (5)

— The dungeon master is dead!

“Envy” was originally a guardian, assigned to protect a certain dungeon.

That dungeon belonged to “Gluttony.” Gluttony loved food. Its favorite food was humans.

So Gluttony turned an entire village into a dungeon. It gave the "foods" a measly bit of authority. And then something incredible happened.

The foods began producing more food and offering it to Gluttony. Since it was humans themselves who carried out these actions, the only real threat—the Windsor Knights—could be fended off.

To be exact, they probably didn’t even realize what was going on. The “foods,” fearing the loss of their newfound power, desperately hid the truth.

Thanks to that, Envy enjoyed a very abundant childhood. Though she was a guardian, there was rarely any risk to her life. Gluttony adored her.

But peace doesn’t last forever. Just when she thought those blissful days would continue—

A girl arrived in the village.

— What the hell is this, Aztec?

Silver hair. Silver eyes. Even in the ashen-colored vision of a demon, the girl was remarkably beautiful.

She sighed as she looked at the “foods” who were trying to offer her as a sacrifice.

— The concept is novel, but… disgusting.

The peaceful, comfortable village Envy had known was utterly destroyed.

The girl was unbelievably strong. No, the word "strong" wasn’t enough to describe her.

She was inhuman.

The girl cleaved through the “foods” with mechanical precision. There was not a shred of mercy in her blade.

How could someone do something so horrifying?

Fifty years of plump, cultivated “crop” had been ruined overnight.

Gluttony screamed and confronted her. But to Envy, who had once looked up to Gluttony as if it were the sky itself—it was torn apart like paper.

The demons who had followed Gluttony wept and raged.

But Envy was different.

She gnawed her nails like mad, unable to tear her eyes away from Cecilia.

The arc of her sword, her stance, every movement was graceful. Beautiful. The way she sentenced death with zero hesitation made Envy thought: could this be the “Goddess” spoken of in whispers?

And at the same time—Envy was consumed by jealousy.

Why her? Why couldn’t I have been born like that?

— So jealous, so jealous I’m going insane.

The terror etched into her soul. But she also admired her. Longed for her. Deep down, Envy wished to become like that too.

So she came up to Theresia. She made a den in a suitable place and, whenever nearby demons suffered “devastating losses,” she rushed over and read the memories from their corpses.

Using those memories and her own, she created the “Butcher.”

Around that time, someone from the Demon King’s castle came and bestowed her the title “Envy.”

She was ordered to kill as many humans as possible.

Envy did not follow that command.

She had only one interest.

To recreate the Butcher as close to the ‘original’ as possible.

No, to create one that surpassed the original.

She believed that if she did, then someday—when she finally faced the original—she would be acknowledged.

“I see. That’s really sad.”

Cecilia said with a completely unsympathetic expression.

Envy, whose face battered with violet bruises, barely opened her swollen eyes and said:

“Th-That’s all of it! I got so focused on research, I’ve never actually killed anyone! I swear it’s true!”

“But your tone changed a bit.”

“Th-The Lady Butcher said she didn’t like how I talked…”

“The Butcher?”

“Hiiiek! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Envy bowed her head and trembled in fear.

The reason she had become so obedient was that Cecilia, feeling a bit annoyed, had briefly revealed her true presence. With no one around to see and no real desire to draw things out, it had been a perfectly rational choice.

“Your whole concept is weird to begin with. It’s just not great.”

“I-It’s not…? But I worked so hard on it…”

“Yeah. The concept of being obsessed with envy is good, but your lines are way too long.”

Cecilia narrowed her eyes.

Why is she giving concept critique to a demon?

Still, she decided to finish what she started.

“The problem is there’s no weight to it. You’re Envy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Ranked 21st in the demon hierarchy—you should at least look powerful. You need impact.”

Envy rolled her eyes around. Cecilia’s expression hardened. Honestly, she didn’t even want to put it into words—Envy was just hideously ugly.

“I… I don’t really get it…”

Cecilia sighed and lightly stomped her foot.

A chilly wind blew, and her silver hair fluttered at the perfect angle.

“At the very least, you need to add special effects like this.”

“Wowww… Woooowww…!”

Seeing Envy cheer like a child sent a sudden wave of emptiness washing over Cecilia.

Then suddenly, Envy’s eyes shot open wide as she fell to her knees.

“H-He’s awakened!”

“He…? Oh, your object of admiration?”

“Gasp. H-How did you…?”

Envy covered her mouth, astonished.

“A-Anyway! I have to hurry back to the dungeon! I swear I’m not lying! We’re too far apart, so the puppets aren’t listening to me!”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Huh? B-But there are 20 humans in there! If they’re all objects of admiration, the power will be immense—”

“Haah.”

Cecilia let out another sigh.

She had expected it since the moment they met, but… this demon’s intelligence was seriously lacking.

“Why do you think I chased after you first? If you’ve been stalking me for this long, then you should have known I never let comrades on a mission die. Don’t you think I would’ve set something up before I left?”

“Ah…!”

“If a Deadly Sin doesn’t even know that much, how are you planning to survive in the ruthless demon realm? You’re hopeless.”

‘...Then again, stupid demons are easy to use.’

Cecilia blinked as she considered the situation from several angles.

The Demon King’s castle was clearly up to something.

In many ways, she needed an informant.

Someone with high enough status to move in and out of the Demon King’s castle freely.

But trusting a high-ranking demon could backfire horribly. If they betrayed her, it might suddenly spike the difficulty of the Demon King subjugation.

In that regard, Envy was the perfect tool.

Shw was dumb enough that if she did betray her, Cecilia would notice right away—and she'd probably get herself executed by the Demon King before long anyway.

“What’s your name?”

“F-Ferna.”

“...Sounds like a low-tier healer in some trash adventurer party.”

‘Even its name sucks.’

But even so, Cecilia couldn’t bring herself to just say “Let’s form a contract.” The problem was… she really hated Ferna. Like, deeply disliked it.

“And you’re way too ugly.”

“……!”

Oops. What was meant to stay a thought slipped out of her mouth.

“Hhng, sniff, h-huu…”

But Envy suddenly began sobbing, covering her mouth.

Even Cecilia, heartless as she might seem, felt a twinge of guilt.

“T-That’s so cruel… sniff… It’s not like I wanted to be born like this… hic!”

Cecilia crouched down and lifted Envy's head by her hair.

Her tear- and snot-soaked face wasn’t so much pitiable as it was just… revolting.

“……”

There was only one solution.

Fix it.

“Let’s go with cosmetic surgery. You said your authority is plunder, so you should be able to change your face by imitating others, right?”

“H-Huh?! T-There’s a method like that?!”

‘Yeah, this one’s definitely low-IQ…’

Cecilia sighed and told her to try transforming into what she thought was the most beautiful face.

“……Do you want to die? Why would you pick my face?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

After a minor incident, Envy successfully changed her appearance.

But...

“……”

Cecilia felt like the sky had just fallen.

Her aesthetic sense was atrocious. The eyes were placed on completely different parts of the face.

And the hair color—it looked like someone had dyed it with poop.

“……Just follow my instructions. First, make the hair pink. No, lighter than that. Hmm, let’s raise the nose a bit too.”

And so, Cecilia threw herself into customizing Envy’s face.

***

“What... is this?”

“What happened?”

The new knights were left speechless at the scene before them.

Countless “objects of admiration” lay shattered and strewn across the ground.

And the one who’d done it… was Cecilia.

Not the young Cecilia—the statue version of Cecilia.

“Is… is she helping us?”

“But that was made by a demon. Then why…?”

As soon as the other "objects of admiration" began attacking the rookies, the statue Cecilia had moved to destroy them.

Whether it was due to the ambush from behind or just Cecilia being that strong, no one could tell—but she’d shattered them with shocking ease.

“Of course. Even a replica of Lady Cecilia is on a whole different level.”

“Lady Cecilia is invincible!”

‘Not the time to be fangirling…’

Beatrice looked on with a worried expression.

The younger Cecilia was glaring fiercely at the statue Cecilia with deep hostility.

— I drank so much milk just for this…

‘…M-Milk? What does that even mean?’

Having finished clearing the enemies, the statue Cecilia now walked toward them.

And so did young Cecilia, her tiny feet pattering along. The two met in the middle.

Both smiled slightly at the corners of their mouths—then swung their swords at the same time.

“Are they… fighting?”

“Wait… what’s happening? Which one’s on our side?”

Amid the new recruits' confusion, the two Cecilias were locked in intense combat.

Their movements were so fast they were barely visible. To most of the knights, the sword strikes were impossible to even follow.

‘Baby Cecilia is at a disadvantage…’

But Beatrice, who wielded the power of light, could at least make out some of their movements—and from them, a hint of the outcome.

Though the younger Cecilia fought valiantly, she was at a physical disadvantage due to her size.

‘What happens if the statue Cecilia wins...?’

The statue Cecilia had destroyed the “objects of admiration.” But that alone wasn’t enough to prove she was on their side.

In contrast, the young Cecilia was clearly an ally. Beatrice quickly made her judgment.

‘I’ll pour in all my magic.’

Beatrice’s golden eyes flared brightly. She pointed her sword accurately at the young Cecilia.

“Roar of Light—!”

A golden flash struck the young Cecilia dead-on. At that moment, Beatrice shouted:

“Help the younger Miss Cecilia! Destroy the statue Lady Cecilia!”

“We follow Beatrice’s call! Everyone, charge!”

As Riharten joined in, the confusion among the knights vanished in an instant.

With all 20 knights charging in at once, the statue Cecilia showed a troubled expression.

Now ringed in a golden glow, the young Cecilia curled her lips slightly.

— Told you. You should’ve been nicer to them before.

The statue Cecilia looked like she had a lot to say. But she couldn’t say it.

“Haaahp—!”

With 20 knights and Beatrice’s full-powered buff, the young Cecilia’s sword pierced through the statue Cecilia.

The statue Cecilia looked heartbreakingly hurt as she glanced at Beatrice, then crumbled into nothing.

“Young Miss Cecilia! Are… are you okay?”

Beatrice asked hesitantly, unsure if that was even the right thing to say.

The young Cecilia gave a bright smile, rose on tiptoes, and reached her hand toward Beatrice.

It seemed like she wanted to pat her, so Beatrice bent over slightly.

Pat pat.

Then the young Cecilia walked around, gently patting each of the other knights on the head.

Pat pat.

Finally, she hugged Beatrice once and stepped a bit away.

— Beatrice.

“Y-Yes?”

— You have the Blessing of Light, don’t you?

“Y-Yes, I do…”

Why is she asking something so obvious…?

As the question spun in Beatrice’s mind, the young Cecilia smiled faintly and said.

— Could you show it to me once more?

Though puzzled, Beatrice once again activated Roar of Light.

The young Cecilia wore a pained expression.

—…It’s gray.

Then, quietly, she brought her sword to her neck.

“C-Cecilia? Miss Cecilia?!”

Beatrice cried out in shock.

But the young Cecilia’s eyes were clear and resolute.

— Tell my real self…

Cecilia’s silver hair fluttered and fell.

The sword, wrapped in wind’s Sword Aura, slowly pressed into her own neck.

—…to never forget her beginnings.

Ssshhk—!

At the same moment her neck was severed, the young Cecilia crumbled into ashen dust and blew away.

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