Chapter 22: I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages

An Unexpected Result

"A summons… How many years has it been?"

"If I recall, about three years."

The members of the Windsor Knights gathered in a packed auditorium.

Though it was an emergency summons, few people complained. Of course, not everyone was pleased.

"Come on, I’m a patient, you know. Isn’t this a bit much?"

"Sir Jerriway! We owe our lives to you back then!"

"Haha! If you’re that grateful... mind lending me a bit of money?"

"Pardon?"

As the knights took a step back from Jerriway, Rude used the gap to weave through the crowd and approach Kairon.

"You’re here too, Commander?"

"It was the investigator’s call. Even a commander should respond when summoned."

Rude looked visibly worn out. Kairon crossed his arms and asked,

"How’s the investigation going?"

"Well... there's good news and bad. Want to hear it?"

"No. Let’s take care of this first."

As Kairon said that, he calmly turned his gaze to the podium.

A knight checking the headcount nodded, and the officer on duty dashed off into the back.

"She’s coming."

The voice wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it. The hall fell silent at once.

‘So who’s the traitor?’

That was the question on everyone’s mind.

The Sword Princess's investigations were known to be flawless.

If she had identified the culprit, that meant she had undeniable proof.

‘Whoever it is… they’re in this room.’

‘If they’re exposed—’

‘I’ll kill them.’

The tension in the room turned sharp and suffocating with murderous intent.

Amidst that heavy air, light footsteps echoed.

Eyes turned toward the source.

A pale white-skinned girl with tightly pressed lips stepped onto the stage, her silver hair fluttering.

Cecilia Windsor.

She stood at the podium.

"Sorry I'm late. I was organizing the evidence."

She bowed slightly, then looked up again.

"First, allow me to introduce myself... I’m Detective Cecilia."

"...D-Detective what?"

The knights who’d been listening in high tension were now caught completely off guard.

Cecilia remained unfazed and extended her hand to the right.

"Now, Watson. Bring the evidence."

"…Watson? Who’s that supposed to be?"

Heiter, looking pale as a ghost, came forward with the documents and handed it to her.

All eyes focused on Kairon, screaming ‘Can’t you control your daughter?’

Embarrassed, Kairon quietly lowered his head.

"This case began with a forged dungeon strategy guide."

Edward's gaze turned visibly cold, fixed on Cecilia.

Jerriway noticed and wore an uneasy expression.

"The mission document was altered, and Sword Emperor Jerriway sustained serious injury."

"I may not know what the traitor’s goal was—but one thing is clear: this traitor is an enemy of Windsor."

"Now then, I’ll reveal the result of the investigation."

Cecilia's cool, crisp voice rang through the room.

The knights stared with tense expressions.

"The traitor is..."

Gulp.

The knights swallowed hard.

Cecilia spoke in a tone more serious than ever before.

“The traitor… is among us.” (TL: She said the line!!)

“......!”

The knights were bewildered.

Wasn’t that... obvious?

But Cecilia looked immensely proud, as if she had just made a massive declaration.

Kairon clapped with an expressionless face.

‘...Is that really something to applaud for?’

He wasn't sure, but he clapped along cautiously while watching others’ reactions.

Soon, the auditorium was filled with applause.

Cecilia shook her head and waved a hand dismissively.

“Please stop praising me so much. It’s embarrassing. Though yes, I do think this investigation was nothing short of perfect.”

‘...What do you even want from us?’

The knights gave up on trying to understand her.

Finally, one knight couldn’t take it anymore and raised a hand.

“So who’s the traitor?”

“That would be…”

Cecilia paused again.

The knights were so tense their mouths went dry.

“I will reveal it in… 60 seconds.”

A moment of silence followed—

Then chaos.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“There’s a limit to how much cuteness we can tolerate!”

“Cecilia, get it together!”

Amidst the barrage of complaints and protests from the knights, Kairon silently glared at Cecilia.

It was a subtle way of telling her "Wrap it up properly… or I’m cutting your allowance."

Cecilia flinched. Then, without warning, she closed her eyes and placed her hand on her sword.

What is she doing? Kairon wondered.

She unsheathed her sword halfway—

In that moment, a chill shot down every spine.

It felt like a demon's hand had just grazed their backs. Death was close.

Without hesitation, Kairon drew his sword.

And nearly every knight in the auditorium followed suit.

“T-That was a demon’s presence just now!”

“It was strong too!”

Panicked, the knights turned toward the stage.

Cecilia spoke in her usual flat tone.

“If you're truly a Windsor Knight, you would have drawn your blade just now upon sensing that presence.”

Kairon thought: ‘Was that Cecilia’s Blessing of Wind earlier? She could even mimic a demon’s presence…?’

“A demon-killing Order that can’t even detect a demon? That makes no sense.”

The knights looked around.

“Therefore, the person who didn’t draw their sword is the traitor.”

Most had drawn their swords, but as Cecilia said, there was knight who hadn’t.

“R-Ridel? You…?”

Ridel tried to grab his sword belatedly, but it was no use.

He laughed awkwardly and tried to explain.

“O-Of course I sensed it too! I just… thought Cecilia was playing a trick or something…”

“You’re saying a mere knight noticed a highly tuned wind spell that even two Sword Emperors fell for?”

Edward, still gripping his sword, walked coldly toward Ridel.

“A bit of a stretch, don’t you think, Ridel?”

With his usual smile, he placed a hand on Ridel’s shoulder.

Crushed by the overwhelming pressure, Ridel stammered,

“T-The thing is…”

“The thing is?”

“W-With so many knights around! And high-ranking knights like yourself, s-so I thought… there was no need for me to react.”

At that moment, even the knights who thought, ‘No way, right?’ had their expressions change.

The Windsor Knight Order was a group with uniquely individualistic traits.

Yet even in such a group, there was one shared value.

Hatred for demons.

That single value was absolute.

To have a demon before you and just stand around, waiting for another knight to step forward like an idiot?

“You're not one of Windsor.”

As the atmosphere turned grim, Ridel swallowed hard. His judgment was quick.

“I-I'm sorry! I-I'll tell you everythi—”

“Silence.”

Thunk—

Ridel looked down in disbelief.

A sword, engulfed in roaring flames, had pierced through his abdomen.

“Khak.”

Blood began to spill out—but even that blood was incinerated by the intense heat. Without another word, Ridel collapsed, his innards completely burned.

Kairon’s eyebrows twitched. To him, it looked as if an important witness had just been killed.

“There’s still more.”

But he set aside that concern for now and turned his attention to Cecilia. The other knights did the same.

Even before, her credibility was high. But in this moment, Cecilia’s words became absolute.

“This isn’t the only traitor.”

“There’s… more?”

“Yes. Even among the high-ranking knights, there is a mole.”

“……!”

It wasn’t a claim that could be taken lightly.

In fact, everyone had secretly believed that at least the high-ranking knights were clean.

If one of them were a traitor, the consequences would’ve been far more devastating.

After all, most high-ranking knights had devoted decades to the Order and the kingdom.

They were supposed to be pure, faultless existences—each having slain demons in numbers enough to build mountains.

And yet, to think a traitor could be among them…

Who?

The entire auditorium fell into heavy silence as they awaited Cecilia’s next words.

“To be continued next time.”

The knights collapsed in disbelief.

‘They’re really enjoying this.’

Cecilia was pleased.

***

“You did well today.”

“Yes.”

“You carried out your duty admirably... aside from the ending.”

Kairon patted Cecilia’s head.

“Let’s go back and talk more calmly.”

“Commander.”

“Speak.”

Kairon, about to board the carriage, paused to listen.

“I still have something left to do.”

“Rooting out the traitor?”

“…….”

Cecilia didn’t answer. But that alone was answer enough. Kairon gave a small nod and stepped into the carriage. The carriage moved without waiting for her.

Left alone, Cecilia turned away and began walking toward the conclusion.

In truth, she had known Ridel was the culprit the moment she read the report.

The real issue was this: for someone to infiltrate under false employment, it was inevitable that someone higher up had been involved as well.

So who was above him?

On the surface, the most likely answer was Edward. No one else had a strong enough motive.

But there was a fatal flaw with that theory—he was going to be the next Commander anyway. If he wanted to orchestrate something, he could’ve easily done it after taking over. No rush.

So who else could it be?

Rude, who spent all day researching flame magic? Heiter, who lacked the brains to be a mastermind?

Leoric, who had no interest in anything other than women and demons?

It wasn’t any of them. Above all, they had alibis.

Then who was it?

In moments like this, Cecilia relied on the wisdom of modern civilization. A famous quote came to mind:

When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains—no matter how improbable—must be the truth.

And once all the impossible options were ruled out, only one name remained.

“Jerriway.”

Cecilia spoke quietly as she approached him.

A man was sitting on the rooftop, bathed in moonlight, sipping whiskey.

Even as Cecilia came up beside him, he said nothing, just took another drink.

Cecilia didn’t say anything either. She simply waited in silence.

“You know, Cecilia.”

Jeriway said in a low voice.

“I joined the Order to avenge my sister.”

He was what people often called a lost cause.

After losing his younger sibling, nothing in life held meaning anymore.

There was no joy in anything, except slaying demons. All he had left was alcohol… and gambling to pay for it.

“But one day, I went into a dungeon… and found my dead sister.”

His pupils drifted back through time, as if his sister was standing right in front of him.

“She looked the same. Spoke the same. Everything was the same. I always hoped she’d appear in my dreams. But when I saw her like that, I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.”

Cecilia’s expression hardened.

“Jerriway. That was—”

“I know. That wasn’t really my sister. It was probably a demon feeding on her existence. But still…”

A single tear rolled down Jerriway’s cheek.

“I just… couldn’t bring myself to strike.”

Demons always preyed on the weakest points in a human heart.

He knew that. He should have known it.

But in the end, Jerriway was just a more broken man than he thought.

“I couldn’t refuse her request. Even when I was crying. You’re right, Cecilia. I’m the mole. The man who shook hands with a demon.”

—Shing.

At the sound of a sharp sword being drawn, Jerriway quietly closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm such a pathetic man that I can't even take my own life."

He quietly waited for his end.

But no matter how long he waited, his consciousness never slipped away.

"You never actually killed anyone. Out of the 183 subjugations you were involved in, there were not a single casualty. Instead, you just kept hurting yourself. This time was no different."

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

Cecilia had already sheathed her sword and was now crouching beside him.

"You can still turn back."

"……"

"It's not too late, if you act now."

Jerriway looked up at the sky.

If he lowered his head now, he knew the tears would pour out.

"You're… forgiving me?"

Cecilia blinked.

"No."

"……Huh?"

The tears instantly dried up.

"But if you pick up every drop you’ve spilled, I’ll consider it."

"…You want me to pick them up?"

"Turn yourself in under the name of a suitable noble. We'll frame it as a minor corruption case, not collusion with demons. That way, you’ll just be demoted. Your reputation will tank, sure—but come on, it's not like it can get much worse than it already is."

"That’s… kind of true. But why? Why go this far…?"

Cecilia, in truth, didn’t really care if there was a traitor in the Windsor Knight Order or not.

Honestly, she almost appreciated the guy for generating high-quality quests.

But what she did hate was aristocratic politicking.

Cecilia just wanted to prepare for welcoming newbies without anyone’s interference.

Only one year left until the launch.

No variables or mistakes could be tolerated.

Sweep away the nuisances, elevate the entire Order, and build a proper wall to shield the newbies.

And for that—

"This way, I can get rid of the annoying nobles."

However, Jerriway’s complexion turned blue at her words.

‘That’s a perfect offer. So why is he looking like that?’

Cecilia tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.

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