Chapter 43: I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages

Ancient Ruins Exploration (2)

A small commotion had broken out in the capital.

“I’m going too!”

“No, you’re not!”

Draaaaag…

Cecilia was being dragged along by Kairon, while clinging to his arm for dear life.

Even half-sitting and dragging her feet, she was no match for his stride.

“You’re too young for this!”

“I’m active duty already!”

Kairon had donned a plate mail set he hadn’t touched in nearly 10 years.

It all started with Edward’s dirty trick.

Furious, Kairon tried everything to stop Cecilia from going on the mission.

But the royal decree had already been accepted. There was no longer room to invoke veto power.

If he couldn’t stop her, he was determined to go with her.

But there was no way Cecilia would accept that.

‘The Commander is a literal demon slayer!’

See, dungeons had aesthetic value.

You needed to use your brain, analyze the traps demons had carefully set, and solve things with finesse.

…Kairon didn’t do finesse.

Cecilia would never forget what kind of "training" he had given her when she was 6 years old:

— Rules? Protocol? Just smash it.

“Once I smash that dungeon, you won’t have to go at all.”

“Dungeons aren’t meant to be smashed!”

“Well, I can’t exactly smash Edward’s head, now can I?!”

‘Tch. I’ve got no choice. Time to use my ultimate move…’

Cecilia decided to use her ultimate secret technique.

She inhaled deeply and shouted loudly—

“D-Daddy!”

“!”

It was super effective!

In the end, Kairon, who had barely calmed down, was safely re-seated in the Commander’s office.

“Listen closely, Cecilia. If anything about that dungeon feels off—retreat. Immediately.”

“Yes.”

“And if you discover anything, report to me first, not Edward.”

“Yes.”

“…Don’t overdo it with the recruits, either.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a very dangerous dungeon. Deaths may be inevitable, but still, try to protect them as much as possible.”

“Yes.”

“Wear proper armor.”

“No.”

“……”

Pinocchio Cecilia protested with bold defiance.

“I use the Blessing of Wind. A heavy full-plate would only slow me down.”

‘It’s really just because of the design, isn’t it?’ Kairon thought, sighing.

He looked at her with worried eyes, wondering what to do with her.

But in the end, all he could do was nod.

As always, the only way to support Cecilia was to trust her.

She had never once failed to live up to expectations.

This time would be no different.

Kairon handed her a scroll.

“No one’s ever cleared this dungeon. There’s little intel. But one thing is known—”

Cecilia accepted the document and tucked it into her coat.

“Edward was the first to discover it. That alone is suspicious already. And Jerriway once tried to clear it, and failed.”

Cecilia nodded.

She’d already planned to consult Jerriway about the dungeon—

But he was currently nowhere to be found in the capital.

Seriously, what was he even doing lately?

“Don’t trust that guide too much. Edward is the kind of guy who’d forge intel if it suited him.”

That was Kairon’s deeply rooted hostility speaking.

Months ago, Cecilia might’ve shrugged that off with the thought:

‘The vice-commander? No way he’d go that far…’

But now, she knew better.

Kairon was probably right.

====================

[Ancient King’s Ruins]

Difficulty: Extreme

====================

A single-player dungeon. Only Sword Emperors or higher may attempt this dungeon alone.

※ Caution: Difficulty increases exponentially with party size.

Cecilia remembered this intel well—from when she’d snuck into the Vice-Commander’s office to peek at the documents.

She’d also read the guide Kairon gave her, but the content was completely contradictory.

Recommended: minimum 20 participants.

The dungeon is vast, and full exploration takes considerable time.

‘That’s… an outright lie.’

No matter how she looked at it, this was clearly sabotage, an 'act of aiding the enemy.'

If Edward wasn’t actively trying to cripple the Windsor Knights, there was no way he’d make such a recommendation.

The dungeon scaled in difficulty based on the number of entrants, and he was recommending more?

This wasn’t just misinformation. It was treason.

‘…What is the vice-commander hiding?’

— Everyone has one or two secrets they’d rather keep buried.

One moment he acted helpful—The next, he stabbed you in the back.

One day he respected the rules—The next, he was jumping rope with them.

Edward was infuriatingly enigmatic.

But one thing was clear:

‘This is going to be fun!’

It gets more dangerous when number goes up?

She decided to take all the new knights on this subjugation.

That means 20 people would go. Including Cecilia herself, that made 21 times the difficulty!

Cecilia was thrilled.

***

After granting the recruits two days of rest, Cecilia gathered them again.

Everyone looked very nervous.

“Before we set out, take one of these.”

Cecilia opened a wooden box.

Inside were dozens of intricately carved rings.

“What are these?”

“Blessings of Emergency Escape.”

“Wait, so these let us leave the dungeon?!”

“Yep.”

The recruits’ eyes went wide.

None of them had ever heard of such an artifact.

This was what Cecilia called the “Newbie Absolute Safety Ring.”

Of course, there was a catch:

It was manual.

Once activated, it would send a location signal to Cecilia, and she’d have to go fetch the wearer and manually throw them out.

When she thought about it that way, it sounded a bit… cheap.

‘Still, it's better than nothing, right…?’

“To use it, just channel mana into the ring. You’ll be out in about 3 seconds.”

“Thank you!”

The recruits carefully accepted the rings like they were extra lives—

And in a sense, they were.

“And now—”

Cecilia excitedly skipped over to a stack of supply crates.

Inside were recovery potions, antidotes, holy water, and all the essentials for ruin delving.

“Hmm.”

Staring at them with an increasingly unimpressed look…

She shut the box.

“Alright! Let’s move out!”

“Wait a second!”

“We saw those potions!”

“Aren’t those our supplies?!”

Cries of protest erupted.

Cecilia made a sulky face.

Beatrice stepped forward to mediate.

“E-Everyone, calm down. I’m sure Lady Cecilia has a plan.”

‘She’s holding back! That’s mercy!’

Beatrice, having once been through this kind of thing (?), understood very well how merciful Cecilia was being now.

Cecilia not confiscating their existing artifacts, and giving them the escape rings, even if manual—

That was practically a miracle. A saintess’ grace!

It wasn’t just Beatrice—Riharten and Dessen also nodded quietly, clearly understanding what was going on.

The other recruits thought, ‘…This doesn’t seem right…’

But after everything they’d seen Cecilia do, they accepted it without question.

‘Barely passed the mercy threshold…’

Beatrice sighed in relief as she glanced at Cecilia—

Hwaaaa—

Cecilia was visibly moved, looking at Beatrice as if beholding a radiant angel.

As expected of Betty. She’s special! She’s adorable!

Wasn’t there an old saying? "Pretty kids get an extra rice cake."

Cecilia smiled faintly and extended her hand.

“Here.”

“……”

“And here.”

Beatrice was robbed of three artifacts on the spot.

***

“Whoa—”

“This place is massive…”

The recruits stood slack-jawed as they arrived at the ruins.

The grand structure was half-collapsed, but its majesty remained intact.

‘So this really was the Ancient King’s ruins…’

‘It really must’ve been a royal palace once.’

While the knights marveled, Cecilia and Beatrice dismounted behind them.

“Good job, Unicorn.”

Hiiihhnn~

When Cecilia stroked its mane affectionately, the white horse purred.

This was her personal steed, nickname “Unicorn.”

Of course, it can't fly in the sky—yet. Cecilia firmly believed that she would be able to fly someday.

“Um… Lady Cecilia…”

Beatrice murmured as she tugged down her skirt, adjusting her uniform.

“Shouldn’t you be wearing riding pants for horseback? This outfit feels a little… dangerous.”

“You didn’t wear shorts underneath?”

“I-I did! But still, people might see—”

“Then it’s divine grace they behold.”

“…?”

‘She’s a saint.’

‘A true saint.’

The recruits looked at Cecilia with reverence in their eyes.

When Beatrice glared at them with a fierce look, they scattered like startled pigeons.

Meanwhile, Cecilia scanned the ruins in one sweeping glance.

‘…This aura seems stronger than a high-ranking demon…’

Her silver eye shimmered faintly.

There was a sinister presence lingering in the ruins—something on par with the Seven Deadly Sins demons.

‘Perfect. I might get some real intel out of this.’

Cecilia had planned this mission primarily as field experience for the recruits.

But that wasn’t all.

She also wanted to verify something:

What exactly was going on in the Demon Realm?

Of course, that part she’d investigate on a break.

The most important thing was still the newbies.

“Raise your hand if you’ve ever been in an ancient ruin.”

About half the recruits raised their hands.

“……”

Cecilia blinked, then shook her head in mock disappointment, as if she couldn't help it.

“Tsk tsk. So none of you, huh?”

“?”

“There are 3 things to keep in mind when exploring ruin-type dungeons.”

1. Always take the path no one expects.

2. If the path is divided or split into teams, never move with fewer than 5 people.

3. Never enter the boss room until the dungeon’s rule-set is clear.

After the explanation, a few knights raised their hands.

“We’ve heard of rules 2 and 3… but what does the first one mean?”

“I’ll explain it step by step.”

‘It’d be boring if I told you everything up front!’

Of course. Where’s the fun in that?

“Alright! Shall we head in?”

The moment the long-awaited ruin exploration was about to begin, Cecilia had given no actual instructions.

Despite their confusion, one by one, the knights followed her and stepped inside.

***

The ruin, as expected, was crawling with undead-type monsters.

Since they were still near the entrance, the only threats were a few low-tier skeletal soldiers.

Nothing worth worrying about.

And then, Cecilia’s party stumbled upon their ‘first treasure room.’

“It’s a treasure chest!”

“Betty.”

Cecilia pointed directly at the ornate chest.

“Open it.”

Beatrice eyed her suspiciously.

“Isn’t that a mimic?”

“Nope. It’s got some amazing treasure inside.”

‘But I’ve heard that chests near the entrance are almost always mimics… Even the ‘Beginner’s Essential Reading’ said so…’

Still, it was Cecilia telling her to do it, so Beatrice couldn’t exactly refuse.

She cautiously approached the chest and opened it.

And then—

Chomp.

“Waaahhh! It was a mimic!! Let me out, let me out!! It’s dark in here! I’m scared!!”

Beatrice was devoured whole.

Only her flailing legs stuck out—pitiful and twitching.

Cecilia giggled as she yanked her out.

Beatrice slumped to the floor, dazed, and drenched in mimic saliva.

“Hahaha!”

The recruits burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs.

Cecilia, watching with envy, had a new thought:

‘…I wanna try it too…’

Next mimic, she is getting in!

“Another treasure chest!”

“For real this time?!”

Fortunately, there were plenty of treasure rooms.

Soon enough, Cecilia spotted another mimic and approached without hesitation.

Excitedly, she flung the chest open—

Revealing the mimic’s wide open mouth.

Cecilia immediately tried to stick her head in.

But then—

Thunk!

The mimic hurriedly snapped its mouth shut, right on her forehead.

A goose egg-sized bump formed instantly.

Cecilia’s eyes trembled.

“……”

A strange silence followed.

The knights looked on with ambiguous expressions, unsure whether to offer comfort or pretend nothing happened.

‘H-How could this happen…?’

Cecilia, her pride bruised, grabbed the mimic’s mouth with both hands and pried it open by force.

The mimic resisted, but her inhuman strength prevailed.

—Kulu….

With a pitiful groan, the mimic reluctantly opened its mouth!

Seizing the moment, Cecilia gleefully shoved her head inside!

However—

—Blegh!

Clatter!

A massive pile of gold and gems poured out of the mimic’s mouth.

The creature trembled, clearly overwhelmed.

As if to say, ‘Please… just take this and let me go…’

“……”

Clink. Roll.

The only sound in the stunned silence of the treasure room was the sad little clatter of gold coins rolling across the floor.

(TL: Haha girl tried to cosplay Frieren but failed, lol)

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