Interlude: Cecily – Part 05
Did I get knocked out again?
The distinct scent of chemicals tickled Cecily’s nostrils as she stirred awake. She realized she was lying in a medical bed in the infirmary. Even with her eyes still closed, the smell told her everything she needed to know. Experience had made her familiar with it, which wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.
After every defeat, she always ended up breathing in the same smell.
Her mind felt sluggish as she came to, and her body was too drained to even think about moving. Her senses were numb for now, but she knew that once the fog cleared, excruciating pain would follow.
Half-delirious with fever, she thought to herself, I’ll get stronger.
Stronger than anyone. Strong enough never to lose again. There was no time to feel discouraged.
Her consciousness began to slip again. Just before the world went black, she thought she heard a voice nearby.
“Captain Quasar really went all out.”
Patty sighed as she wrapped a bandage around a man’s arm.
“Captain Quasar really went all out. We’re running low on bandages, supplies, jewel steel, and manpower. I wish he’d cut us some slack. And now Cecily’s in here, all banged up.”
She glanced over at the female knight lying on the bed. Cecily, who’d fought until the very end, had fainted the moment the battle ended. She was groaning restlessly in her sleep. Patty vaguely remembered Aria complaining about how Cecily always seemed to end up hurt. Aria had just gone to the Campbell family home to fetch Cecily’s change of clothes.
The infirmary was a small room with only a few beds. Cecily was the only person occupying one. The rest of the squad members had been sent to other medical facilities for treatment.
“You really pushed yourself this time, Reginald,” Patty said.
Reginald didn’t reply. His perpetually-sour face was swollen and covered in bruises. Multiple layers of bandages covered his upper body.
Patty had treated the others first, so it was finally Reginald’s turn. She thought it was impressive that he was conscious. Most of the others were likely writhing in feverish pain.
“Hold still.” Patty pressed a piece of jewel steel against the bandages as she murmured a healing incantation. A soft light seeped into the bandages, and Reginald let out a faint groan. “Tough it out. So, how do you feel?”
Wincing from the pain, Reginald answered firmly, “I’ll probably get the vice-captain position.”
“Well, well,” Patty said with a smile. “Someone’s confident. Did you really do that well?”
“Taking everything into account, I’m the most qualified for the role among the knights.”
“Wow. Were you always this self-assured?”
“It’s the result of a careful analysis.”
“Really? But judging by the captain’s language, don’t you think Cecily might be in the running too? She fought until the very end. The vice-captain’s decided by strength, isn’t it?”
“True. If we’re talking pure combat ability, Cecily Campbell is probably the strongest. Annoying as that is,” Reginald admitted with a scowl. “But it’s not going to happen. Patty Baldwin, you must think the same. She’s your friend, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“She’s the type to charge in recklessly,” he said. “In no world should she be at the top.”
“Yeah, honestly, I can’t really picture Cecily in command either.”
“Though, I’ll admit, there was a small chance,” Reginald added.
“Oh, is that why you told Cecily to withdraw?”
Reginald nodded, looking a bit surprised that she knew. “The captain seems oddly fond of her. I wanted to eliminate anything that might cost me the vice-captain spot.”
“Why do you want to be vice-captain so badly?” Patty asked casually.
Reginald’s face stiffened, like he’d just walked into trouble. Patty watched him, waiting for an answer.
With a heavy sigh, he finally confessed, “We have to protect the city. To do that, we need to organize the knights in the best possible way.”
“And after all that careful analysis, you concluded that you’re the most qualified for the job?”
“Exactly.” Reginald nodded. “It’s about putting the right person in the right position.”
This guy’s an odd one in his own way, I suppose.
Nevertheless, Patty respected how his drive to protect the city trumped any kind of personal ambition.
“Though I have to say,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m surprised.”
“About what?”
“Despite your attitude towards Cecily, you’ve actually been paying attention to her. Kinda makes me jealous.”
Reginald furrowed his brow. “Jealous of who exactly?”
“Who would you prefer I meant, Reginald Drummond?” When he didn’t answer, Patty pressed him with a teasing smile, “Well?”
Reginald looked away. “I don’t particularly care either way.”
“I see. Unfortunate.”
“Are you messing with me?”
“Who’s to say? But I might’ve gained a bit of respect for you.”
Reginald grimaced, and Patty giggled softly.
Meanwhile, in the mayor’s office, Hannibal Quasar, who had nearly wiped out his entire knight squad, was facing a storm of complaints.
“You went way overboard!” Hugo yelled, face flushed red with fury. “You sent the whole squad to the hospital! What the hell were you thinking?!”
Hannibal rubbed his bald head awkwardly. “Well… It was so much fun, I got a little carried away.”
“You destroyed your own Knight Guard because you were having fun?” Hugo groaned, staring up at the ceiling in disbelief. “I should’ve insisted on stopping you.”
“Oh, come on. It’s fine,” Hannibal waved him off casually. “We got a new vice-captain out of it.”
Despite the chaos he’d caused, with most of his knights in the hospital, Hannibal himself only had a few scratches on himself. The man was ridiculous.
“But there’s still something to celebrate,” Hannibal went on. “Rejoice, Hugo! My Knight Guard will only get stronger from here. Sure, they outnumbered me by a lot, but they pushed me that far. And Cecily, she coordinated with her team better than expected. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.”
His upbeat tone only irritated Hugo further.
“So? Who did you make vice-captain?” the mayor asked sharply. “If you dare say something like ‘I’ve decided we don’t need one after all,’ I swear to God.”
“Reginald Drummond,” Hannibal replied. “You don’t have any objections, do you?”
Hugo paused for a bit. “Yesterday, you said you had someone in mind. Who was it?”
“Reginald Drummond.”
“So today’s mock battle was completely pointless, then!”
Realizing his mistake, Hannibal quickly turned away, mumbling, “No, no, it had a point.”
Hugo slumped, defeated. There was no point in scolding him further.
“Anyway, I honestly thought you’d pick Cecily. Her skills are undeniable, and she’s grown so much recently.”
“She can’t handle it.” Hannibal’s expression hardened slightly. “You know that, don’t you?”
Hugo nodded. No matter how talented Cecily Campbell was, she couldn’t be given the title of vice-captain. That wasn’t her role.
“In the near future, she’ll have her hands full with her own problems,” Hannibal continued. “She won’t have the time or energy to focus on the others.”
“Her fate depends on Luke, though.”
“If that stupid brat doesn’t get his act together soon, I’ll have to spill everything. Not how I would want to do it, but enough’s enough.”
“True,” Hugo muttered.
What choices would they make when the time came?
The forger of the Sacred Sword, and the inheritor of its Sheath.
He hoped, for their sake, that they’d choose the right path and walk it without fear.
For now, though, the vice-captain position had been filled. There were still many other issues to address—relations with other countries, the city’s status as an independent trading hub, and the offering of the Militant Nation’s envoy. But one by one, they would tackle each problem. That was all they could do.
“For now, we’ll have to borrow personnel from the other districts until the Third District Knight Guard recovers. You go tell the captains, Hannibal.”
“Ugh… I’d rather not,” Hannibal groaned. “Stanley’s definitely going to give me a hard time.”
“I couldn’t care less. And as for the members’ medical bills, they’ll be deducted from your salary.”
“What?!” Hannibal exclaimed. “Y-You bastard!”
For now, the beleaguered mayor decided to take out his frustration by tormenting this man as much as he could.
The day after the mock battle, the entire Third District Knight Guard was given an unprecedented break to recover from their injuries.
“All right, Aria, training time! We’ve got to get stronger. We can’t waste this rare break!”
Aria pressed her forehead like she was nursing a headache as she watched Cecily, wrapped in bandages, yelling in the Campbell family yard.
“Why can’t you just take it easy and heal?” the Infernal Blade groaned.
“What’s wrong, Aria? You look down.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Let’s just get this over with! Unshackle from slumber. Seize the truth. The wind, in my hand. Slay God. With that, she transformed into her rapier form.
Cecily took the weapon in her hand and fell into thought.
The frontlines of battle—that’s where she belonged. She understood that now. But she still wasn’t strong enough to fight there. She was too weak.
I will get stronger.
Strong enough to surpass even Hannibal one day.
Cecily thrust her practice sword into a wooden target.
“Haaah!”
Pain shot through her body like lightning, and she staggered, writhing in agony. The wind from Aria’s blade seemed to mock her as it brushed against her skin.
Cecily Campbell’s path to becoming strong was still a long one.
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