Contracts Demand Caution
“What the hell is this?”
“……A code?”
People who saw the notice posted on the bulletin board furrowed their brows. It was written in handwriting that was utterly illegible.
Of course, Sisilia—who had no idea about that—was watching from a distance with bated breath, full of expectations. It would probably become the notice with the most applicants in Liannen history.
……Sadly, there were only two spots open.
“Knight and mage are locked in. For priest, we can just kidnap a saintess from the Holy Nation or something. Now we need……”
A supporter class like Betty. And most importantly—the hero.
‘I wonder who the hero will be?’
Hero party. The most crucial member, no matter what anyone said, was the hero.
The face of the party, the one who cleared the path first and raised their sword first. Their heart had to be bold—and above all, they had to be cool.
She considered putting Ruby forward as the hero but scrapped the idea. Because Ruby was cute.
‘A heroine like me would suit it better.’ Perfect for Sisilia's position in the Windsor Knights.
‘Wait, in that case, naturally the hero would be……’
“What are you doing here?”
“……Captain Edppi.”
Of course, the hero had to admire the heroine.
Their personality needed strong narcissistic tendencies, they had to be handsome enough that no one could argue otherwise, and their love for humanity had to be so high that even the heroine couldn't comprehend it.
The most important part. They couldn't show they liked the heroine, had to pine away miserably, kill the Demon King, and then die single.
“……Why are you looking at me with those rotten dead-fish eyes? And don't change my name however you want.”
Yes, just like Edward.
Thinking about it, Edward was perfect hero material. His nice looks aside, the public saw him as an upright young man, but in reality he was a lecherous pervert loli-con prince—that was so very hero-like.
Sisilia, just to check, asked.
“Captain Edppi, do you think you're handsome?”
Edward narrowed his eyes at the strangely off Sisilia today, then crossed his arms.
“Isn't that obvious?”
“…….”
‘Narcissist.’
“Hey, more importantly, why are you calling me Edppi……”
“How high is your love for humanity?”
Edward found Sisilia, who wasn't listening to him at all, utterly ridiculous, but as captain, he curled his lip smugly at the question he couldn't ignore.
“Pretty high, of course. I killed five just yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Does trash incineration need a reason?”
‘Love for humanity so high it's incomprehensible……’
Sisilia was starting to feel awkward, but she decided to ask the clincher.
“……Then, between marrying a woman who's not your type or living single forever, which would you pick?”
“The latter. The thought of living with a woman who only sees my status and fame is horrifying. …But why are you asking?”
Sisilia was sweating bullets.
As Edward looked puzzled, Sisilia covered her chest—though it wasn't much to cover—and bowed politely.
“Sorry, Captain. I can't accept your feelings. If you don't want to die alone as an old bachelor, please make a political marriage.”
Then she bolted away.
Edward stood frozen for a long while.
The captain, who had achieved 0 confessions in 2nd round, was surprisingly unfazed.
“Since you've accomplished great feats, I'll forgive that much rudeness.”
He had disbanded the academy's user section. Hell, he'd even boldly kicked the users out of the capital.
—The full story of the incident seemed to be that Sisilia had stepped up in anger when other kids bullied Ruby. According to reports from Ian, a user she'd taken in before.
But Edward knew how nonsensical that was.
Sisilia fundamentally lacked empathy for others. Especially the weak.
Sisilia had been born a predator, and she'd never been weak even once.
In other words, the perspective on this incident needed reevaluation.
Not raising the quality of the masses.
But focusing on the exceptional few who would appear later, to maximize efficiency.
“That's right. Sacrificing the few for the many is wrong. The many exist for the few.”
It was incredibly encouraging news for Edward. That thick-headed Sisilia had shown flexible thinking.
Of course, there was dissatisfaction too. Simply banishing users who already harbored hostility was unacceptable.
—Sisilia had already given those bastards plenty of chances.
—She could've done this ages ago.
—You summoned them and……!
—Made the academy to adapt to this world, but it means nothing.
—Since when do commoners point fingers at royalty?
Edward had killed the five banished users.
He'd deliberately let the remaining fifteen or so live. Simple reason.
If he sent them off as-is, the users would hate Sisilia—but by killing five as an example, that hatred would turn to him.
“By the way, what were you trying to steal a peek at here?”
Edward headed to the bulletin board.
He glanced around briefly, then spotted a certain notice.
Hero Party Wanted.
This rotten handwriting and half-baked idea screamed Sisilia no matter who looked.
“……At least write it so people can read it.”
Even generously overlooking the idea, the handwriting was beyond the pale.
Of course, Edward could read the script, so he sighed inevitably.
“……Guess I'll rewrite it and post a new one.”
Sisilia arrived at the vice-captain's office and immediately said to Beatrice.
“No one came?”
“No, nothing at all.”
“Weird. That can't be.”
Of course, it hadn't been long since posting the notice, but zero applications was strange.
“……Not enough promotion?”
“What exactly are you waiting for?”
“Posted a recruitment notice for a hero party.”
Beatrice smiled awkwardly.
“Lady Sisilia, who would apply to that?”
“……No one applies?”
“Why not just post a request at the adventurer guild to kill the Demon King……?”
Sisilia gave a thumbs up.
“Nice idea.”
“…?”
Sisilia promptly blasted a ‘Demon King Request’ across the entire adventurer guild.
And the reaction came shockingly fast.
“Why isn't this fun request on the Windsor Knights bulletin board—!”
“I'm heading to Nibelheim right now!”
About fifteen Windsors showed up at the vice-captain's office.
Sisilia, naturally revolted by the sour vinegar stench, chased them all out.
“Betty, still nothing?”
“No, not a single one.”
“Weird, weird.”
The empty office circling with flies made no sense to Sisilia.
‘Hmm. I want to raise them fast.’
She'd secured a dragon for final weapon materials, and after catching two of the Four Heavenly Kings, she had some time buffer—
If not now, there'd be no time to grow the hero party.
No matter how newbie-obsessed Sisilia was, she had no intention of leaving the clear 100% to newbies.
If another incident popped up, she'd have to hustle again.
She couldn't slack off like before; the Maginot Line was approaching.
That line was—the Demon King.
—No hero party yet?
Demon King Cain, Hero-hater, was surely waiting in the cold Demon King Castle right now for the hero party.
But in reality, they hadn't even formed one yet.
The Demon King probably knew that, and if things dragged on, he'd burst first.
“Lady Sisilia, one or two is fine, but you can't recruit a hero party like this.”
Beatrice said it for the pure-hearted Sisilia.
“Users' current levels aren't that high. Forget Demon King, they struggle against low-rank demons—that's reality.”
“……That's enough. I'll raise them.”
“Then shouldn't the notice specify that first?”
Beatrice wavered, but Sisilia wasn't an idiot.
“A hero needs a big heart. Even if endlessly weak, they need the confidence to kill the Demon King right now. Even our knights swarm just on rumors.”
“……Isn't that just because there are no normal people in the Windsor Knights?”
“That's a key quality.”
Sisilia could forcibly adjust qualities and specs.
But innate nature couldn't be changed no matter what.
Even with specs to beat the Demon King, no courage to draw the sword meant nothing.
“Th-that makes sense when you put it like that.”
“But we can't wait forever, so let's fill other members first.”
“Other members…? Got someone in mind?”
Of course. She'd planned the hero party composition from day one in this world.
It was always in her head.
“Mage Tower…?”
Beatrice's face lit up upon arriving at the Mage Tower.
“Thank goodness…. You really weren't planning an all-user party!”
Of course, Sisilia wanted an all-newbie party if possible.
But even newbie fan Sisilia had no choice here.
‘Anything but the mage—they can't handle it.’
Knight, thief, priest—even with effort, newbies could reach the top in those fields.
But mage? Impossible.
Magic was closer to ‘scholarship’ than a ‘weapon.’
Like how using ChatGPT wouldn't win a professor battle.
“Oh, hello, Sponsor.”
Fortunately, Sisilia knew the future hero party mage.
“You look healthy. Good.”
“What brings you here…?”
“Got a good part-time gig. Wanna try?”
“Really? Sure! Actually, research costs are short beyond your sponsorship……”
Mage Ariana (21), badly in need of cash, accepted Sisilia's offer.
“Then sign here.”
“……What does it say?”
“I'll tell you after you sign.”
The problem: the contract terms were in illegible scrawl, impossible to read.
Ariana's face filled with question marks, but what could go wrong?
The person before her was none other than the Windsor Knights vice-captain!
What issue could there be with a job she recommended?
Ariana signed boldly, and Sisilia snatched the contract, handing it to Beatrice.
“Betty, pass this contract to Freya for time freeze preservation.”
“…….”
Beatrice took the paper, glaring at Sisilia in horror.
Wasn't it that she'd been scammed all this time to learn the method firsthand?
“……Time freeze? Ahaha, you joke well, Sponsor. Loyalty!”
Ariana saluted playfully, then asked Sisilia with eager eyes.
“So, what kind of part-time job?”
Sisilia smiled brightly.
“Nothing much—just simple demon subjugation work.”
Ariana blinked.
Windsors short-staffed? Anyway, not rare, so she grinned and rolled up her robe sleeve.
Her pale arm, from holing up in the tower without sun, was heartbreakingly skinny.
“Hehe, trust me. I'm a researcher, but I can cast Hellfire decently?”
Beatrice wiped tears from her eyes for some reason.
Sisilia, seemingly without a heart, turned satisfied.
“Looking forward to Ariana's performance. Report to Windsor Knights HQ by 9 AM tomorrow.”
Ariana waved long after the strolling Sisilia.
“What a cool person—sponsoring and recommending jobs too.”
I must repay this kindness. Ariana vowed.
“Aren't you afraid of divine punishment, Lady Sisilia?”
Beatrice said while securing the time-frozen document in a 9-layer protection magic-sealed box—and the even harsher barriered Windsor vault.
Sisilia stared silently for a while.
“……Seems like she's the most diligent about it.”
“B-but we have to handle things properly.”
Beatrice coughed awkwardly, changing subjects.
“Got others in mind?”
“Yeah, easier to recruit around a backbone. Wanna guess? What role we need. Not hero, FYI.”
“Hmm…… Now we need a buffer?”
“A top supporter like you is essential, but still deciding. Something else.”
“Oh, I got it. Healer, right?”
Auras had tens of thousands of types.
Their applications determined fields, and parties needed healing above all.
Windsors focused on combat over heals—but better to potion than babysit healers.
At low levels, healers were vital.
“Correct—we're recruiting a priest now.”
“Oh yeah, heard rumors lately of priests working hard in Terezia. So we're heading to the cathedral?”
But Sisilia shook her head.
“No—the imperial palace.”
“……Why the palace for a priest?”
“Too lazy to go directly.”
“It's right next door.”
Beatrice pointed to the massive cathedral at Terezia's center.
“But no saintess there.”
“Me?”
“You're a fake saintess, Betty.”
Beatrice puffed her cheeks.
“His Majesty officially recognized me as a real saintess!”
But more puzzled.
“……A saintess? The one from the Holy Nation?”
And Sisilia dropped the bombshell.
“Yeah. We're kidnapping her now.”