The Missing Sisilia
Liannen Empire Imperial Palace.
"The news that Sisilia subjugated the 7th Legion Commander Lujerna."
Lydia smiled faintly as she listened to Erterion's report.
"You've completed the true peace treaty. With no more enemies to fight, those noisy petitions won't come flooding in anymore."
"Your Majesty, but was there really a need to phrase it that way? Just saying 'subjugate her' would have done the trick."
It was a pointed question about whether there was any reason to issue such a confusing order. After all, "Help Lujerna conclude the peace treaty" was the kind of phrasing that anyone would take at face value.
"Do you know what peace means to the demons, Sir Erterion?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Back in my active days, there were mostly hardliners. Moderate demons only started appearing recently, didn't they?"
Lydia shook her head readily.
"It's the opposite, Sir Erterion. The precedent for moderate demons dates back over a millennium—to when they couldn't match dragons through brute force and resorted to cunning instead."
Erterion was impressed.
"I've heard the tale. It was in a fairy tale my grandmother read to me as a child."
"……Grandmother?"
Lydia's eyes went pitch black for a moment. But she sighed and continued.
"Demons preaching peace is a story from over a thousand years ago."
"……Pardon? But moderates appearing isn't all that rare these days."
"The moderates of then and now are worlds apart. Unlike today's bunch, who just want to maintain the status quo out of laziness, the moderates of old weaponized peace to counter the dragons."
Dragons were transcendent beings. Their power and accumulated knowledge were more than enough to protect this world from demons.
The invading demons couldn't hope to overpower them by force. So they turned to other methods.
"Those fools who only knew brute strength finally started using their heads. But once the age of humans dawned, they no longer needed peace as a weapon."
"……Because humans aren't as strong as dragons."
"Exactly. That's why the demons of that era are dangerous. They never let their guard down and understand better than anyone how to deal with those stronger than themselves."
Lydia briefly reflected on memories from the past.
The peace-preaching demons had exterminated the dragons. But the dragons didn't go down without a fight, slaughtering a great many of those dangerous demons in turn.
Lujerna had been one of them.
Yet Lujerna had transcended a millennium and manifested once more in this era.
And what that implied was—
"Something's afoot on the demon side. An irregularity summoning millennium-old existences and trying to upend the entire balance of power."
It meant Sisilia would face grueling battles ahead.
If she hadn't grasped the letter's meaning, she would have been forcibly summoned.
But Lydia had learned from the letter.
That for demons, peace was nothing more than a weapon to slay the strong.
Sisilia had understood perfectly.
***
Sisilia read the letter brought by the strange sparrow for a long while.
Dearest Sword Princess Sisilia,
Your flawless blade dances like the winds of fate itself. Such perfection in form and ferocity—truly, a sight to behold across millennia. May your path ever be paved in glory, and may you continue to dazzle this weary world with your unparalleled grace.
With eternal admiration,
A Secret Admirer
"……Fan letter?"
It was packed with praise so effusive even Sisilia found it burdensome.
"To think I already have such a rabid fan."
Not from a newbie, so Sisilia casually blew it away on the wind.
"Y-Your Majesty, what if you throw away the Empress's letter!!"
Beatrice dashed after it like a madwoman to retrieve it.
Sisilia found it amusing.
"Marquis. Save the peace games for after you drop to hell. Looks like our goddess still wants a fight."
With the incident resolved and before departing Carmot, Edward warned the marquis.
The marquis could scarcely believe how everything had flipped overnight, but he had no choice but to accept it.
"Of course, your trip to hell won't be for another fifty years. Marquis de Carmot, you are sentenced to labor reeducation. The charge: insulting the Sword Princess."
The insulted Sword Princess tilted her head in confusion.
The marquis bowed his head without daring to protest.
Treason could have meant extermination of his entire clan—how could he argue?
"……Henceforth, I shall devote myself solely to serving the Liannen Empire. I am grateful for Your Highness's mercy."
After the meeting with the lord, Sisilia's group headed to the Adventurer Guild.
They'd cleared their mission and resolved the minor spat with the lord, but there was still work to do.
"Heard the rumor? That famous Sword Princess peeked at the Empress's panties this time."
"……Talk some sense."
"It's true! My cousin's friend's father-in-law saw it with his own eyes."
The guild was abuzz.
Lots of users, and plenty of locals too.
Rumors had it the desserts here were exceptionally good.
"It's legit. They could sell this in Terezia."
"Tastes just like Golden Honeycomb."
The desserts were delicious enough for even Sisilia to approve. The balance of whipped cream and strawberries was perversely perfect.
Did they open a branch?
Sisilia savored it happily with that thought in mind, but today, something else pleased her more.
"Almost level 30 soon."
"For real? Lucky… I'm still grinding those damn rabbits."
"……Isn't that a bit much?"
The guild's framework had started as a simple notion: "Without something like this, the difficulty would be insane."
The saying went that all safety rules in the old world were written in blood, but there was no reason not to prepare for the obvious.
Sort requests by rank, match to appropriate levels, let part-timers handle sorting.
Growth might slow a bit, but that was work for hero parties.
The rest should just enjoy themselves.
"Urk, ugh. H-Healer, s-save me…"
"An axe in your head! You! Are you okay?!"
"Potions are for show? Jesus, unbelievable. Why ask me? Gross."
Everyone's enjoying it well.
Sisilia smiled contentedly.
Beatrice was horrified, though.
"Wh-what's with skipping the cathedral for the Adventurer Guild…? The cathedral isn't for resurrecting after death."
Edward finally couldn't hold back.
"……Seraphina. Go help."
"B-but, soon they'll return to the goddess's embrace. Should I interfere?"
"This isn't a cathedral. Dead here, and you don't go to the goddess."
"Ah."
As Seraphina got to work, Edward spoke up.
"Sisilia. You really love wasting time, don't you? It'll take the hero party another month to reach here. What do you plan to do until then?"
Sisilia sported a perfect ponytail, not a single strand out of place. She'd ditched her cape somewhere and wore a black coat that evoked an undertaker. Even her etiquette today was impeccable by Edward's strict standards.
She always pulls insane stunts on days like this.
Edward eyed her suspiciously.
"Shouldn't the captain take it easy sometimes?"
Sisilia flashed a dignified smile and reached for her beer mug.
Edward scowled and grabbed her wrist.
"Beer is a century too early for you."
"Orange juice."
"……."
Edward released her hand with a pathetic look.
Sisilia, maintaining perfect poise, took a sip of orange juice and said,
"Lumia is the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings. We can't afford to get complacent. This is necessary preparation for facing her."
Sisilia spoke with refined grace.
Edward's expression turned serious.
"You know something about Lumia?"
"Of course. Basically, I know all the demons."
Beatrice's face grew grave too.
Seraphina, oblivious and back after saving a pitiful user, watched Beatrice crumble bread into dust and scatter it.
"Throwing trash on the floor is bad…!"
"Seraphina can clean it."
"Ah."
Seraphina diligently picked up the crumbs one by one into her palm. It'd take a while.
"As expected of Sisilia-nim. What should we do?"
"Collect tales of the hero party's adventures."
Sisilia added, just in case,
"This is an order from the vice-captain."
Beatrice and Edward sighed in unison.
It was obvious she just wanted to slack off.
"Captain's order. If you're planning pointless time-wasting, we head out to subjugate Lumia."
"It's not pointless."
"I have zero intention of indulging your hobbies. Give it up."
Edward crossed his legs arrogantly.
"Not with me here."
He was confident he could keep Sisilia in check.
Without that confidence, he wouldn't have come.
"It's necessary to catch Lumia."
"One more word of nonsense, and I'll discipline you."
As Edward spoke menacingly, Sisilia pouted.
"……It's really not useless. It's something we absolutely have to do. Betty's on my side, right?"
Normally, she'd fawn out of fear, but emboldened by recent events, Betty subtly voiced her own opinion.
"……I think we should subjugate Lumia quickly and join the northern front too. You'll have to yield this time, Sisilia-nim."
Sisilia felt deeply hurt.
"Hmph."
She stormed off with a pouty, priceless expression.
As Beatrice panicked and moved to follow, Edward stopped her.
"Don't indulge all her whims. It'll spoil her."
"But…"
"Captain's order. It's nearly 10 anyway; she's off to bed. No need to worry."
Edward flagged down a passing server.
"Another beer here."
He wasn't about to miss a rare chance to drink.
***
"No more… I can't…"
Edward set down his mug and blinked.
Beatrice had face-planted right there.
She drinks pretty well.
For reference, Edward—winner of the "Windsor Knights Drinking Contest"—was a heavyweight.
Seraphina had passed out after one sip of beer.
Beatrice had held out decently, downing about ten mugs.
"Time to head back."
Edward roughly stuffed the two women into a carriage and headed for their inn.
Staying at the mansion felt awkward, so they'd rented out the priciest one in town.
As he drove the carriage, Edward fell into thought.
It was the conversation over drinks with Beatrice.
"But why did you suddenly decide to play hero, Captain Edward? The knights were up in arms. Hyter cried when he got stuck as acting captain."
Edward gave a wry smile.
At the time, he'd dodged Beatrice's question without answering.
There was a good reason he couldn't.
The day before Sisilia's hero escapade.
On an especially dark night, at the mansion, Edward encountered an unexpected figure.
"Hello, Captain."
A being from the past trial he thought he'd never see again.
"How's the plan to paint me gray coming along?"
A childlike Sisilia sat by the window, faintly emanating the scent of a demon.
Edward hesitated, unsure whether to draw his sword or talk.
The child Sisilia said,
"Choose me, and I might even tell you how."
Edward dropped Beatrice and Seraphina off at the door and headed for a bath.
After a refreshing soak, he entered his room, lit the lamp, and pulled something from a drawer.
It was the rabbit hair accessory he'd picked up in the sanctuary trial long ago.
"I'll dye you gray."
Edward smiled faintly without realizing it.
"……That wasn't really about dyeing me gray, was it."
He gripped the rabbit accessory tightly.
Pathetic.
He knew full well who was real and who was fake—
Yet that day, he hadn't slain the child Sisilia.
In the end, unable to destroy the accessory, he was putting it back in the drawer when—
A thudding crash from upstairs, followed by frantic footsteps rushing down.
"Big strides—must be Beatrice."
Beatrice flung open Edward's door in a panic.
Her face was flushed from drink, her hair damp with cold sweat, her pupils trembling wildly.
And Beatrice dropped a bombshell.
"Si-Sisilia-nim is gone!"