Chapter 33: Knights, Cross-Dressing, and a Demon Sword

“A sword, huh…? Unlike Lady Elina III, I wouldn’t be able to swing such a heavy weapon. It’d only bring trouble.”

“Wow, it’d be fun to cross-dress like Lady Elina III and join the Knight Order! Ah, yeah Silpid, I know. I mean, why all the fuss when I say I’ll wield a sword in disguise?”

Lara quickly scanned the two noblewomen. One was too kind and had the air of a demure princess—definitely not one to refuse an offer.

“Even delicate Youngae like me managed to join, so surely Lady Elina I can too. Besides, it’s a chance to spend an entire day with Commander Diches. You wouldn’t want to miss that, right? Hoho.”

“Ah… ah…….”

Blushing furiously with her pretty lips quivering, Lady Elina I gave a tiny nod. With only one target left, as Lara turned her attention, she could already feel a figurative slap on her face.

“Um… Spirit King?”

Although he was unseen, she had to sweet-talk him—the actual guardian of Elina II. Filled with desperation thinking, ‘I need to get out of here…’, Lara put on every bit of her charming salesman act.

“The Knight Order isn’t as dangerous as you think. Elina II isn’t just lazing around every day at home, right? I actually recommend the Order as a more productive way to spend time. They teach all kinds of self-defense techniques. For someone like Elina II who always gets into mishaps, it’s exactly what she needs.”

“And what if she causes trouble there? Silpid, have you said everything?”

“Well, I’ll keep a close watch. And with so many reliable knights around, if any accident occurs, they’ll step in immediately. Besides, it’s the Imperial Knight Order. They can handle nearly any mishap.”

A laugh escaped her. Whether it was fate or the determined will to sell a knight’s role, even the turbulent wind in the room calmed down.

“Thank you, thank you!”

Having learned from Pereus, Lara gave a respectful nod and turned to leave the reception room. Two successful sales on the first try made for a promising start.

Lara vowed to recruit one hundred knights by exhausting every connection she had. Even though her contacts were mostly peers, she wasn’t picky—anyone would do as long as it meant escaping the clutches of that infernal pyramid. Conscience had long been for sale.

* * *

“Phew… is it eighteen?”

Lara counted the membership applications nestled in a now-thick envelope. With names like Christine Youngae, Mille Youngae, and Shuria Youngae, it was a pretty hefty daily tally.

‘Still, I need to fill the remaining two spots.’

With a daily target of twenty in mind, Lara had to see it through. Although dusk had already set in, she steadfastly made her way to the entrance of the Daeshin Shrine’s garden. Upon entering the building, she spotted a man with flowing, silver hair half-reclining on a sofa while reading a book.

“Hello, Mikhail?”

“Call me Mikhail.”

Despite the brusque reply, Lara offered a gentle smile as she approached and sat down before him.

“I was wondering if you’d consider applying to the Knight Order.”

“Don’t you know I’m the Pope?”

“Hoho, no way~ It must be more fulfilling than staying here cooped up every day…”

“Nope.”

“…I haven’t even finished speaking.”

“Why should I waste my time listening to obvious nonsense when you could just keep quiet?”

“Isn’t hanging around here every day a waste of time?”

“If you keep mouthing off like that…”

Suddenly, Mikhail sprang to his feet. Startled, Lara dropped her envelope. With a swift kick, he brushed it aside and pulled her toward the door.

“Go to the shrine and come back. In the room to the right of my private office, there’s a cupboard. Bring me the sword master’s documents from there.”

“W-what do you need those for?”

“I need to peel some fruit. But I can’t peel you, can I?”

As Lara shot him a creepy look, Mikhail chuckled, “Just kidding, don’t get scared.” With no other option, Lara had to trudge back to the shrine to fetch the documents.

It took a good half-hour just to enter the expansive shrine. Passing through corridors where several worshipers could be seen, she ventured deeper into the central area where solemn paladins guarded the doors.

Lara felt a bit awkward about how to proceed in such a sacred place, where even the Emperor wouldn’t wander. How could she possibly convince them that the Pope had sent her to fetch some documents for peeling fruit?

Before Lara could utter a word, one of the paladins who had guided her here recognized her and bowed his head. Carefully, she passed through and entered the corridor leading to the Pope’s private office.

‘It must be in the room on the right… Ah, that one must be it.’

Turning right, she encountered a giant stone door. Its handle was entwined with a rusted lock, and just as she hesitated about asking the paladin to open it, the door clicked open from the inside and the lock magically dissolved, clattering to the floor.

“Hmm?”

Blinking, Lara cautiously opened the door and stepped in headfirst.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Her voice echoed for a long moment in the vast space before fading away. Lara advanced carefully into the dark room.

Fortunately, by feeling along the wall she found a switch. With a click, the magical light fixture on the ceiling lit up the room. The bright light settled over a dusty glass display case. Entranced, Lara moved closer to it.

‘So this is the cupboard.’

No matter how extravagant it looked, it was clearly a cupboard meant for storing swords.

Inside the glass case, a stunning sword nearly reached her height. Its pure, silver blade and jet-black hilt contrasted magnificently, amplifying its beauty.

Lara longed to have that sword. It was an exquisite piece—so grand and beautiful that it made the fruit-peeling task seem trivial. As if driven by instinct, she opened the display and grasped the sword’s hilt.

“Ma!”

A thunderous voice echoed suddenly from somewhere, and Lara jumped back in shock. She tried to drop the sword and look around, but it clung stubbornly to her hand.

“Ma! Over here, here!”

“……?”

It wasn’t long before Lara discerned where the booming voice was coming from.

“Ma!! If you saw it, greet at a 90-degree angle! I’m delighted to see you, brother! You better give a proper salute!”

“…Is the cupboard talking?”

“Ma! It’s not a cupboard!! Look at me—I’m the sword master!”

Lara stared at the sword as if it were a ghost, trying to shake it free with wild arm flails, but it stubbornly refused to let go.

At that moment, the door swung open and a group of paladins rushed in.

“…So the thousand-year seal has been broken!”

In unison, the paladins drew their swords and aimed them at Lara. She cried out, “I can’t let it go!” while flailing her arms. Hesitant at first, the paladins exchanged glances and nodded to one another.

“Glory~ Glory, glory, glory~ Glory, glory, glory~”

“Glory~ Glory, glory, glory~ Glory, glory, glory~”

Amidst the hymns, one of the paladins approached Lara and spoke.

“You mustn’t let your mind be taken over! This is the Demon Sword that we sealed in the Daeshin Shrine for a thousand years. Its malevolent power seduces a swordsman’s heart, bringing unspeakable calamity. But fear not, we shall weaken its power with our hymns. For now, please follow my instructions.”

“A Demon Sword, you say? Then where is the sword master?”

“He’ll be inside the office—in the cupboard of the room to the right.”

“Oh my, it was inside the office? I was so busy looking outside…”

Lara cupped her cheek with her other hand and gave an embarrassed, light laugh. Her frenzied right hand gradually calmed down.

“But this Demon Sword—if it’s so evil, what kind of terrible calamity is it supposed to bring?”

“That goes back a thousand years. There was a swordsman whose dialect was so thick that he enrolled in a correction academy to learn standard speech. One day, he forgot his pen—an essential school supply—at home.”

“……”

“That day, while practicing pronunciation with a pen in his mouth, he instead grabbed the sword he habitually wore at his waist and put it in his mouth. In that moment, his tongue was severed.”

Lara covered her mouth in shock. It was a horrendous tale.

“The swordsman was rushed to the emergency room where his tongue was successfully reattached, but he was doomed to never speak in standard language again. Forty years later, at 68, his thick dialect still hadn’t improved. Eventually, he died—and his soul became bound to the very sword that cut his tongue.”

“…No way, that sword is…”

“Indeed. That sword is the very Demon Sword you, Youngae, now hold. Its owner was a Gyeongsang-do man who constantly muttered ‘Ma!’—hence, it’s known as the Ma! Sword.”

Lara couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Though her pride stung a bit, she couldn’t stop chuckling. Her spit even splattered onto the Demon Sword, which shuddered in response as if awakening.

“Ma! Damn it, do you want to die!”

“Hey, from where do you see a sword master in me…?”

Barely having returned to Mikhail, a torrent of curses immediately followed. It was obvious he was vexed—complaining about how hard it was to find a sword master in a kitchen cupboard, and questioning how one could possibly unseal a Demon Sword that had been locked away in the depths of the Daeshin Shrine for a thousand years.

“In your eyes, it doesn’t seem like a sword master.”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose! Somehow I ended up with this Demon Sword in my hand. I’ve tried to let it go, but it just won’t budge—I’m just as baffled as you are…!”