How to Avoid Instant Death Traps
Lydia, who never imagined Sisilia would actually cry, fidgeted anxiously as she soothed her.
"I didn't mean for you to go catch the Nameless right this instant. It's no good if you're too late, but make sure you're properly prepared."
And she handed Sisilia the necessary information.
"...Just keep in mind that Sir Gallerhead is somewhere in a remote mountain village in the south."
Whether to use that info or not was up to Sisilia. With reddened eyes, Sisilia mumbled,
"Yes."
Of course, she had no intention of dragging back Gallerhead, who was off gallivanting around.
'Catching the Demon King would probably be easier.'
Simple reason. Tracking down Windsor, who'd deliberately taken off for a three-year vacation, was tough even for Sisilia.
Anyway, having achieved her goal, Sisilia left the audience chamber beaming.
'Finally, I get to see some newbies. Wonder what this batch is like?'
That was all she could think about as she called out to Beatrice, who was waiting outside.
"Let's go, Betty."
But Beatrice didn't budge from her spot.
"Um, Sisilia."
"Yeah?"
After much deliberation, Betty swallowed hard and said,
"...You subjugated the Nameless, right?"
The unexpected question forced Sisilia to stop in her tracks.
"Why do you think that?"
"Your breathing's rougher than usual, and your gait's a bit off-balance."
Beatrice quietly clutched the hem of her skirt.
"There's no way you'd get hurt for no reason. You don't make mistakes like that."
No one else, but Beatrice's eyes—she couldn't dodge those. After all, Beatrice was always watching Sisilia intently.
"...More than that, I overheard. What Freya said."
While handling paperwork, Freya had suddenly looked up in a panic.
'Nameless' is dead.
It was a quiet mutter, but a little thought made it obvious. Nameless meant Mubyeong.
"I looked up the records. Slaying one of the Three Great Beasts is feat enough to reach Sword Sovereign."
And Mubyeong was even less known than the other two. No one even knew its name.
To kill a beast like that in a single day—what realm was that? At the very least, it was impossible for a knight freshly ascended to Sword Emperor.
Beatrice couldn't deny that Sisilia had been hiding her power all this time. Which made her curious.
"Sisilia. I don't get it."
Sometimes she seemed like an idiot, living in ways no one could fathom. But when it came to killing demons, she was dead serious.
...Or so Beatrice thought.
But if Sisilia was hiding her strength for no reason at all... it contradicted the faith Beatrice held inside.
So, Beatrice wanted to make sure.
"Why... do you hide your power?"
But the moment Beatrice looked up—
Sisilia's silver hair fluttered in the air, and she collapsed to the floor.
"Si-Sisilia!"
Beatrice rushed to support her, but Sisilia looked in bad shape.
Snore, snore.
Ragged breathing. And—
'She's burning up.'
Beatrice hurriedly called for help.
"This... isn't good."
"Is Sisilia's condition that bad?"
The kingdom's capital—now the imperial capital—of Terezia's finest physician, Documen, checked her status with his Aura and shook his head.
Chiron was worried sick. Beatrice had been sniffling and rubbing her eyes nonstop. Her sleeves were soaked through.
"Fever's high, and her immunity's way down."
"Sniff, huuuh. I-Is Sisilia gonna... die now? Nooo, Doctor!"
"......"
Chiron crossed his arms, desperately maintaining his ducal dignity. His legs were trembling so badly he barely noticed, his focus shattered.
"No. She's just caught a cold."
"......"
But at the physician's blunt words, Beatrice and Chiron fell into a long silence.
"A cold, you say?"
"Not just any cold—it's the flu. Bad luck. Flu in summer. But summer flus hit hard, so feed her lots of warm stuff."
"......"
But both knew that was nonsense. Knights were constantly protected by mana and the goddess's blessings, far tougher than civilians. They rarely caught diseases, or even poison.
And Sisilia was a Sword Emperor. In Chiron's ninety years, he'd never heard of one catching a cold.
"Really... just a cold?"
"No surprise you're skeptical. First time I've seen a knight with a cold too."
"Then—"
"But it's not impossible."
The doctor explained simply.
"Your daughter's case—probably exhausted all her mana recently. Got exposed to the flu virus in that gap."
"Exhausted all her mana?"
Chiron silently stared at Beatrice.
Sisilia's mana far exceeded the average for domain-type Aura users. For her to use it all meant a brutal fight.
"Th-That..."
With tears drying up, Beatrice's lips quivered.
'Definitely from the fight with Mubyeong.'
Only one major battle lately. But she couldn't spill Sisilia's secrets.
"...Sorry."
"No need to apologize. I'm retired from the Windsor Knights."
But Chiron smiled faintly instead.
"Handing knightly secrets to an outsider would be wrong. Sisilia's picked a fine adjutant."
Before Beatrice, Sisilia hadn't let anyone into her unit. She'd just brush off scoldings.
Maybe she'd been waiting for someone like Beatrice.
Chiron sighed in relief, gently stroking Sisilia's hair.
"Rest easy for now, Sisilia. You've earned it."
Word of Sisilia's cold spread through the entire Windsor Knights.
"A cold...? The vice-captain?"
"Quit bullshitting and up the ante."
"I saw her beat down that demon Liliana just days ago."
The problem? No one believed it. Not because of her usual antics, but because a knight of her caliber didn't catch colds.
"I can't stand this anymore."
Meanwhile, Edward—eyes bloodshot—strode off purposefully.
He'd barely slept, thanks to a vice-captain who dumped work on him to create. Too busy to know she was sick.
"Sisilia!"
Bam.
Uncharacteristically agitated, Edward flung open the vice-captain's office door.
But no Sisilia—instead, two demons handling paperwork. He blinked.
"Why are you sitting there? Demon."
Freya was in Sisilia's seat. Infuriating to Edward.
"Blame the master who tied me here if you wanna nitpick."
"......"
Freya kept her eyes on the papers.
"You can see it on my neck."
Edward stepped closer, eyeing the tag around Freya's neck.
-Auto-Hunt Mode.
Her messy scrawl matched Sisilia's handwriting.
"Human. Keep your impudent hands off Lady Freya."
Edward ignored the growling Liliana.
Talking to demons disgusted him. He just asked Freya what he needed.
"Where's Sisilia?"
"Recovering. Caught a cold, apparently."
"Damn that Sisilia."
If you're gonna lie, at least sell it, thought Edward. He stormed out fuming.
Once he was gone, Freya murmured softly,
"You can come out now. Jahar."
"Lady Freya's schemes are bottomless."
A hazy figure formed by the window—Jahar appeared, chuckling.
Arms crossed, leaning on the sill, he said,
"Easing humans' suspicions, ascending to a position to openly scout enemy intel. How do you build that much trust in a blink?"
"Sisilia thinks she can control me."
'That's what I like about her.'
Freya briefly covered her face.
Jahar didn't notice.
"So? Why'd you seek me?"
"Do you know about this?"
Freya glanced at whatever Jahar held. Her eyes widened in shock.
The form was warped, but the presence was unmistakable.
'Maui.'
Realizing she'd named it aloud, Freya twisted her fingers to stop time.
No reaction from Maui. She stared at it.
"S-Someone... killed Maui."
"...This is truly Maui?"
"Jahar. You summoned what shouldn't be called."
Freya spoke lowly, thinking fast. She let out a hollow laugh at her conclusion.
'The moment Sisilia killed Maui, it cursed her. A curse at half-god full power, and all she gets is a few days bedridden? What the hell...'
A curse that should've been fatal. Sisilia took it head-on and just got the flu.
'How damn tough is she?'
Freya broke into a cold sweat. Cupid said if your mate's too sturdy, it's tough on you—and with her poor stamina, Freya was already worried.
"Hmm, looks like the goddess who found Maui intervened. But the immortal won't stay dead—he'll recover soon. Lady Freya, when will Maui regain his true form?"
'The instant Sisilia recovers, Maui regains the power he poured into the curse.'
Freya said curtly,
"Won't take days. But full recovery? Damage on the scale of eons."
Freya measured time differently. Her "eons" meant at least tens of thousands of years.
But Jahar grinned.
"Then set the invasion for then."
"Planning an invasion, Jahar?"
Freya said firmly.
"Don't mess with my fun."
"Haha, no worries."
Jahar never planned to kill Sisilia anyway. Just revenge—repay that human who toyed with powerless demons in kind.
"Your fun continues. I came just for basic courtesy. Don't interfere, that's all."
Jahar faded as he arrived.
Liliana exhaled sharply, freaking out.
"A-As expected of Lord Jahar! I couldn't even meet his eyes. Anyway, we can finally go back to the demon realm! Free from this cruel mental torture!"
Liliana bounced with joy. But Freya dove back into paperwork.
"Cain's got a headache coming."
"Huh?"
"Filling the Four Heavenly Kings ain't easy."
She couldn't imagine Sisilia struggling against Jahar. Catching Maui was dozens of times harder than killing him.
Fuming, Edward burst into Sisilia's room. Planning to boot out those two demons and lecture her on diligence.
But seeing her in bed, his anger vanished like it'd been rinsed away.
"...She really caught a cold."
Sisilia looked genuinely ill.
Snore, snore.
Through hazy vision, she glanced at Edward, nibbling a green baguette—something Edward wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
"Mana herb baguette, huh."
"Yeah."
"...Casual talk—no, never mind. How'd you end up like this?"
Edward ruffled his hair roughly. Pitiful, assuming malingering from a truly sick subordinate.
"Got careless. Didn't expect the finisher itself to be an instant-death pattern."
Sisilia mumbled nonsense, eyes closing sleepily. Then opened them, hugged her bunny doll, and drooped her head.
"Achoo. Achoo."
Pathetic sneezes.
"......"
Edward realized she wasn't up for talk. He stood quietly.
"Don't set foot near the knights till you're recovered."
Heading out, he clicked his tongue and turned back.
"Damn. Can't just leave it like this."
Edward, severe germaphobe, couldn't tolerate dust motes around a patient.
That was all. Not concern for Sisilia.
"Do you even clean normally? Knight's eyes are sharper than maids', so give orders right. Told you as a kid—forgot already?"
That day, Edward spent a full three hours cleaning Sisilia's room before leaving.