Hearing Su Mo's complaint, Liliana, the silver-haired female knight beside him, shook her head, her light blue eyes filled with confusion. "Apologies, my King. The exact reason is still under investigation. By now, the King of Swords should have already boarded his private jet from Antarctica and arrived here. We even contacted his knight, Sir Andrea, and conveyed your request. At that time, the King of Swords had already boarded, but afterward, we lost all contact."
Liliana Kranjčar, famously known as the Fairy Knight, was a silver-haired knight maiden as renowned in Italy as Erica. Back when Su Mo had defeated Melqart, the heretic god, the magic associations had recruited individuals with witch constitutions. Liliana was among those summoned. Though by the time she arrived, Su Mo had already dealt with Melqart, she was nonetheless retained by the newly risen Campione—who had slain two deities from the very start.
Now, with an impending conflict between the King of Swords and the new demon king, she, along with Erica, temporarily served as Su Mo's secretaries, responsible for relaying messages and intelligence.
At first, Liliana had been terribly anxious. After all, Campiones were known to be extremely difficult to serve. Whether it was the Nordic Wolf King Woban or the King of Swords Doni, they were both terrifying shadows looming over Europe's magic associations. She had fully expected to face a temperamental and dangerous master.
But reality completely defied her expectations. This new king had none of the usual flaws of other Campiones. He was not only reasonable but also remarkably steady in his decision-making, inspiring genuine respect. Even when a battle with the King of Swords was inevitable, Su Mo still took into account civilian property and environmental damage, deliberately choosing the already-evacuated Sardinia as their battleground.
He was the first king who actually considered social and economic losses. Not just Liliana, but even the various magic associations were moved to tears upon hearing of it. Could it be that the seventh Campione was, contrary to expectations, a compassionate and gentle person?
—Of course not.
Even though it seemed unlikely—for one needed to be ruthless to slay gods—it didn't stop them from harboring such hopeful fantasies. At least in Liliana's eyes, Su Mo's every action was now filtered through a layer of admiration.
As for Su Mo's earlier question, Liliana herself was equally baffled. According to the agreed schedule, the King of Swords should have arrived long ago. Yet every attempt to contact Sir Andrea had gone unanswered—a highly unusual situation for such a capable knight. Left with no other choice, Liliana had requested the local magic associations to investigate. The results should be arriving any moment now.
Just as she was thinking this, there was a knock at the door.
They were sitting inside the villa's study. The magic associations were handling security outside, while only Su Mo and his two knight maidens stayed inside. At this moment, only one person could be knocking.
"Erica, come in," Su Mo ordered.
With a soft creak, the door opened, and the golden-haired knight maiden—whose beauty rivaled Liliana's—entered.
"In urgent matters, you have my permission to enter directly," Su Mo remarked, a little puzzled. "Since it's just the few of us here, you don't need to knock."
Hearing this, Erica shook her head. "That won't do. As your knight, I must uphold proper etiquette toward my King. Even if you grant me such privileges, considering you and Liliana are alone inside, what if I were to barge in on something… inconvenient?"
She left the "inconvenient" matters unsaid, but Liliana instantly understood, her cheeks flushing bright red as faint steam seemed to rise from her head. Who knew what strange thoughts crossed her mind? Flustered, she glared at Erica.
"Shut up, you shameless vixen! Don't tarnish the King's honor! His Majesty would never think about such indecent things! If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll cut you down!"
Of course, Liliana absolutely hadn't thought of any "office play" or "the demon king fell for me" scenarios. Absolutely not!
Seeing Liliana bristling like an angry kitten, Erica wore an innocent expression. "Whatever are you talking about, Lily? When I said 'inconvenient,' I meant confidential information and such. Where exactly did your mind wander off to?"
Feigning surprise, Erica covered her mouth dramatically. "Oh my! I see now. You actually thought of that! Tsk, tsk… Who would've guessed that someone as seemingly pure as you would have such dirty thoughts? Unbelievable… and you call yourself a lily-like knight maiden?"
She shook her head in mock disappointment, thoroughly enjoying Liliana's embarrassed reaction.
It was almost as if she were saying, "Why are your thoughts so impure?"
A classic case of turning the tables.
Of course, Liliana didn't think she had misunderstood. After all, she had experienced these routine countless times before. Erica had definitely done it on purpose.
"You—you wretched woman! You deliberately led me on in front of His Majesty!" The silver-haired knightess was livid. But with Su Mo present, and her duties as a knight restraining her, she couldn't just draw her sword and teach Erica, that shameless fox, a lesson.
So instead, she dropped to one knee before Su Mo and solemnly declared, "Your Majesty! Please allow me to punish this insolent vixen and wash away this disgrace!"
Liliana, who held Su Mo's opinion in the highest regard, absolutely could not allow him to get the wrong idea—that she was some kind of impure-minded knight. She swore to sew Erica's lips shut and make her understand that some things are simply not to be joked about.
Watching the usual antics between his two knights, Su Mo couldn't help but laugh softly. "Erica, don't bully Liliana too much. Also, that performance of yours just now was a little too exaggerated. I'll give you a seventy-nine out of a hundred."
Erica snapped to attention as if receiving a royal decree. "Understood!" she responded, though the gentle smile still lingered on her lips.
A habitual offender, clearly.
"As for you, Liliana…" Su Mo turned to look at the silver-haired knightess kneeling before him. "You fall for such an obvious bait every time. Sometimes I wonder if you're too honest for your own good. Save the fighting spirit for a real battle. Next time we're in action, if you outperform Erica by a large margin, I'll consider giving you a one-time right to command her."
It was a casual statement, but one that acted like a tempting lure.
"Really?!" Liliana's head shot up, eyes filled with hope.
"A king never goes back on his word," Su Mo nodded.
Hearing this, Erica's expression froze. "Your Majesty?" she asked in disbelief.
Weren't you the one enjoying me teasing Liliana just a moment ago? Why are you suddenly throwing me under the bus? Did you forget that I'm your only loyal knight?
Reading the expression on her face, Su Mo added with a smirk, "This applies to you too. If next time you perform significantly better than Liliana, I'll help you bully her—fair and square."
The difference in treatment wasn't favouritism.
Erica had already pledged her loyalty two days ago. She was Su Mo's official knight, wholly under his authority. The power to command her was already his by right. Liliana, on the other hand, had arrived later and was more like a dispatched liaison from her organization. She hadn't pledged fealty, so technically, Su Mo could only assist her—though, as a god-slayer, Su Mo's "assistance" was essentially indistinguishable from a direct order. After all, no mortal could defy a Campione.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Erica's eyes lit up with delight. An officially sanctioned opportunity to bully Liliana wasn't something she would pass up.
As for who would win next time, Erica had full confidence in herself. She was a prodigy in swordsmanship, a sixteen-year-old Great Knight, and a Master of Diplomacy. How could she possibly lose to someone like Liliana, who had nothing but her sword and a witch's constitution?
From across the room, Liliana held an identical thought. As a Great Knight gifted with the rare witch's body, if she received a vision or divine hint in the next operation, wouldn't that mean a guaranteed win? Erica, that smooth-talking diplomat, had no chance against her.
Their gazes clashed, and metaphorical sparks flew between them.
Just like that, with one casual comment, Su Mo had managed to stoke both their motivations to new heights.
The art of leadership—simple, direct, and effective. If a bit dry.
"Ah, right!" Erica finally remembered the original reason she had come in. Her expression turned a bit odd as she handed a document to Su Mo with a respectful bow.
"Your Majesty, we've just received an emergency report from Sir André. It seems the King of Swords wasn't aware that you had accepted his duel. He thought Sir André was trying to stop him... so when the plane was approaching the port, he jumped out of it."
That last part made both Erica and Liliana fall silent, faces caught somewhere between disbelief and resignation.
The King of Swords jumped off the plane?
Into the ocean?
Did he not realize the sea was vast and unforgiving?
And from that altitude, hitting water was almost like hitting concrete. Sure, a god-slayer wouldn't die from such a fall—but still, wasn't that way too reckless?
Not to mention, he'd have to swim all the way to the island afterward.
What kind of insane logic would lead someone to do something like that?
When Erica first received the report, she thought it was a bad joke. But the more she thought about it… yeah, this was absolutely something Salvatore Doni would do.
If it were anyone else, she'd doubt it. But that guy? Totally believable.