Chapter 18: I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages

Mission Complete

“So this is the true form of Cecilia, the Sword Princess of the Windsor Knights…”

Dessen spoke with hollow disbelief.

He had just realized how utterly insignificant his own strength was.

He had known that a knight with a title was on a whole different level compared to ordinary knights.

But this…

“…Riharten. Did you see it? Lady Cecilia’s sword strike.”

“As if I could’ve seen that.”

“Betty, what about you?”

Beatrice, who had just been rejoicing over finally escaping this accursed dungeon, was caught off guard by the question.

“I… I think something passed by…”

“So you at least managed to perceive it?”

Dessen let out a faint, bitter laugh.

He felt utterly foolish.

Honestly, he had thought his place in the Windsor Knights was all but guaranteed.

In terms of raw ability alone, he hadn’t thought himself lacking.

But after witnessing that sword strike, everything changed.

“I couldn’t even perceive it, not even when the demon’s head had already been cut off.”

“What’s there to despair over now?”

Riharten calmly sheathed his sword.

“This is the Windsor Knight we’re aiming for.”

“You’re saying there are at least seven knights stronger than her?”

“Yeah. So don’t let this discourage you.”

“Discourage? No. But… it is a bit grim. I didn’t expect the gap to be that wide.”

Beatrice found Dessen a bit absurd.

‘…You didn’t realize until now?’

With a firm expression, Dessen looked between Riharten and Beatrice.

“Let’s get stronger.”

“Of course.”

All eyes turned to Beatrice when she didn’t respond. Flustered, she clenched her fists.

“I-I’ll do my best.”

“Starting today, it’s infinite training. Keep up, don’t even think about falling behind.”

“That’s my line, Dessen.”

“And Betty, don’t get too comfortable just because you’re currently ranked first.”

‘I really don’t want to, though...’

At that moment, one of the trainees looked around and muttered,

“But… why isn’t the dungeon ending?”

Even Ricardo’s decapitated body remained where it had fallen.

Cecilia had vanished somewhere right after striking him down.

“That’s strange. The dungeon should’ve cleared once the demon died, right?”

“Don’t tell me… there’s another condition?”

Beatrice shuddered.

A bad feeling crawled up her spine.

“Everyone, let’s head out just in case—”

Keeheeheehee!

The sound of cackling filled the air.

The ghosts they thought were gone came flooding back like a tide.

And this time—there were ten times more of them.

***

In special dungeons like these, mobs tend to give above-average EXP.

But as hunting grounds, they’re terrible.

Basically, dungeons are spaces stacked with ‘rules’—debuffs in every corner.

But what if there are no rules and the mob spawn rate is good?

Then it becomes an exceptionally excellent hunting ground.

And recommending a good farming spot?

That’s the virtue of a seasoned oldbie.

“If you had a room like this existed, you should have told me ages ago.”

Cecilia munched contentedly on a bag of potato chips—a snack unheard of in medieval times—as she gazed into a crystal.

More precisely, she was watching the apprentice knights fighting with everything they had inside it.

“I-I deeply apologize! That benefit should’ve been provided to you the moment you arrived, Lady Cecilia…!”

A lone severed head placed nearby sputtered apologies.

Ricardo, drenched in sweat, spoke desperately.

‘I was a bit worried when I chopped his head off… glad he’s still functional.’

Cecilia, of course, wasn’t the type to let such a golden opportunity go to waste.

With a few gentle but firm words, she issued two commands to the obedient demon:

1. Send out waves of ghosts.

2. Make sure the ghosts don’t kill anyone, just rough them up a little.

Thankfully, Ricardo turned out to be an exceptionally cooperative demon.

‘They’re all doing pretty well.’

Cecilia watched, pleased by the apprentices’ efforts.

She was especially impressed by Riharten and Dessen, who’d caught her eye before.

But what truly surprised her was her most favorite newbie—Beatrice.

‘So she’s a buffer, huh?’

Beatrice’s Blessing of Light weren’t aimed at the ghosts—they were for her fellow knights.

Buffer-class Knights were extremely rare. Even within the Windsor Knights, only Rude and Heiter could fulfilled that role to some extent.

In Cecilia’s mind, Beatrice’s worth had just skyrocketed.

She lost track of time, engrossed in their growth.

Eventually, as she reached the bottom of her snack bag—

“Mmm… guess this is a good stopping point.”

Cecilia yawned, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

She could see the knights’ sword swings getting noticeably slower.

Beatrice, in particular, looked like she was about to cry.

“The kids have hit their limit. And looks like you’re out of ghosts, too.”

She rose from her comfortable plush chair, sword in hand, and walked toward Ricardo’s head.

The severed demon, playing dead until now, suddenly cried out desperately.

“W-Wait! I have something to tell you!”

“Hmm?”

“There’s a traitor! A mole within the Windsor Knights!”

“Oh, really?”

“P-Please, if you spare me, I’ll tell you everything!”

Cecilia shook her head.

“Nah.”

“I-I’ll tell you! Really! I will even swear my loyalty to you—Ricardo shall serve you faithfully!”

“No, really. It’s fine.”

“B-But they could cause serious trouble later! You’ll regret it if you don’t realize their threat sooner—”

Still rubbing her eyes from yawning, Cecilia murmured,

“But if I know ahead of time… it’s no fun.”

“……!”

“Farewell. At least the dungeon concept was fun, though. It’s a shame the pacing dragged a bit near the end.”

“Please, spare me!”

Ricardo begged pitifully.

“I’ll do anything! Anything!”

Cecilia frowned slightly.

“I feel bad, really.”

But—

“You’re a virus who pretends to be weak, then preys on budding newbies. I can’t forgive that.”

Cecilia hated bullies who picked on the weak. Especially ones who crushed potential before it could bloom.

***

‘I can’t… anymore.’

Beatrice could no longer muster the strength to hold her sword.

Even swinging it once more felt impossible.

She had exhausted all her blessings, and her mana reserves were completely drained.

Is this what falling into an endless hell feels like?

They kept coming. Kill one, another appeared. Kill another, and more swarmed in.

The ghosts truly felt infinite. It was a miracle there hadn’t been any casualties yet.

“D-Damn it. Betty! Snap out of it!”

“Tell my family back home… I’m sorry.”

“I’ll tell them, so use that last buff before you die! Or we all will!”

‘You guys… are really the worst…’

Beatrice closed her eyes with a sad heart.

“Huh?”

“Finally!”

Startled by the cheers, Beatrice opened her eyes again.

The wretched mansion was crumbling.

It was turning to white dust, scattering into the sky on a warm breeze.

And before she realized it, the apprentice knights were all back in the forest where they had first entered the mansion.

The dungeon had been cleared.

“Wooooooah!!”

“It’s finally over!”

The apprentice knights burst into cheers.

One of them, now crying, knelt and offered prayers to the Goddess.

Beatrice recalled that this particular comrade had always been a stubborn atheist.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard.”

A gentle voice—Cecilia was walking toward them.

She gave a slight, respectful bow.

“With this, the training is complete.”

Even after the mansion vanished, Beatrice had remained tense. But only now did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.

‘It’s really over…’

She took deep, shaky breaths and thought back.

Maybe Cecilia had even intimidated the demon to command the ghosts?

‘No way’, she shook the thought off. ‘She wouldn’t go that far… right?’

‘...I really almost died this time. I’ll have to thank her properly later.’

But right now, she didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.

Beatrice surrendered herself to a rest like sweet slumber.

Perhaps it was the release of tension, but a thought—one she had shelved during the chaos—floated back to the surface.

— The thing demons fear most is the Demon King.

At the time, she had been too anxious to process what it really meant.

— If you threaten to tell the Demon King, they can’t help but be afraid.

But now that she thought about it…

No human who had ever seen the Demon King was said to have survived.

So why had Ricardo been afraid?

Could it be… Cecilia has actually faced the Demon King before…?

“Beatrice.”

The girl, still gazing at the ground, slowly looked up.

Cecilia stood there, her face as expressionless as ever—

Almost as if she had just read Beatrice’s thoughts.

“I’ll be expecting great things from you.”

To Beatrice, it sounded like a warning.

‘Y-Yeah. I’m definitely dropping out.’

She made up her mind, with utmost resolve.

***

The return to the royal capital after so long was, as always, peaceful.

The Sacred Flame flickered faintly, but it still stood firm, continuing to support Theresia.

“Seems like the mission ended well enough.”

Cecilia’s first stop was Edward. The mission report needed to be submitted.

“Yes.”

“Anything noteworthy?”

“No.”

Edward barely suppressed the twitch of his face and forced a smile as he continued.

“Impressive. This is the first time there haven’t been any casualties in that dungeon.”

“...Is that so?”

“It’s not a particularly difficult dungeon, but once you go in, someone always dies. That’s just how it’s structured.”

Edward lowered his voice.

“You interfered, didn’t you, Cecilia?”

“…”

“I told you, didn’t I? The purpose of this mission was to train the apprentices. Even if there were casualties, they needed to grow stronger. Not even you can just walk away from this.”

Despite his words, Edward seemed oddly pleased.

Cecilia’s eyes sparkled.

“There will be disciplinary—”

“They’ve improved a lot.”

“…What?”

“They’ve probably gone up about 13 levels.”

“Levels? Ah, right—your term for growth.”

Cecilia’s expression said praise me.

If she were a dog, her tail would’ve been wagging.

She had no doubt.

This mission’s outcome would’ve raised her favorability for sure.

Not only had she completed it with zero casualties—she had also triggered significant growth.

She regarded it as a flawless success, even by her own standards.

“I don’t know exactly what the standard for level is, but 13 levels huh. That’s… quite the number.”

“Their stats increased by 20% at the lowest, and 45% at the highest.”

“No casualties… and results like that?”

“Yes.”

Cecilia offered the tiniest of smiles.

She hated missions, but being praised after finishing them? Always satisfying.

“Astounding. Almost hard to believe it’s true.”

Judging from Edward’s doubtful expression, he clearly didn’t believe it.

Marcus the instructor would vouch for it if necessary.

But right now, there was an urgent issue that had to be addressed.

“Vice Commander.”

“...Go on.”

“I spent a little money during this mission. Since it was for official purposes, I believe the Order should cover it.”

Edward raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Of course. If it was for the mission, organize the relevant details and submit a report—”

Naturally, the ever-prepared Cecilia had already finished the report.

She held out the scroll to him.

Edward blinked and took it.

“Approximately 1300 gold...” Equivalent to 1.3 billion won

For reference, Edward’s entire yearly discretionary budget was about 1000 gold.

He stared blankly at Cecilia.

Cecilia was already at the door, bowing politely as she stepped backward.

“Farewell.”

That day, rumors swirled through the Windsor Knight Order’s headquarter that a terrible scream was heard echoing from Edward’s office.

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