Sigmund finds himself walking down the quiet hallway of Aranea's manor, leisurely as though to kill or delay time. He's not giving much thought about this investigation just like how he's completely ignoring the serious burns on his left arm.
As he stands in the middle of the hallway staring down the front door, he breathes out a long and tired sigh before closing his eyes.
"What would you do in this situation? Why am I here and not you?" He asks himself and glances at his broken left arm that begins to throb in pain. In looking to his left he sees the half-open entrance to Aranea's workshop.
Just as he's about to go inside of it, the front door opens to reveal Cecil who walks up towards Sigmund carrying a leather suitcase.
"Sir Cecil, is something the matter?" Sigmund asks as he goes inside the workshop with Cecil not too far from his tail.
"Yes sir, your arm. Let me treat it. Please sit down," Cecil says holding back her abrasive attitude as she walks up to one of the tables of the workshop where she sets down the leather suitcase and opens it, showing that it's full of medical supplies.
The red-haired commander takes a seat and holds out his left arm. Cecil doesn't waste time treating the arm with all her effort but giving the utmost care to avoid making any mistakes.
"You have a knack for this, have you ever thought of becoming a doctor?" Sigmund asks as he watches Cecil check his now bandaged arm.
"I have, sir. However, I don't think it's the right time for me to focus on the people's health," Cecil answers while turning to her suitcase and returning everything she took out from it.
Cecil's answer piques Sigmund's interest while he begins feeling his left arm.
"I understand. Thank you for treating my arm, sir Cecil. You can go now." Sigmund gets up from his seat and as he does it somehow jerks something behind him into falling hard on the floor.
Whatever it is, it's metal as it dropped instantly and loudly with a sharp clatter.
Looking behind him, Sigmund sees a black sword on the floor half-drawn from its leather scabbard. Cecil and Sigurd know who owns this sword and where he is right now.
Another long sigh leaves the red-haired commander, and this time he pinches the bridge of his nose as something pulls at his nerves just from the sight of the black sword.
"He really is a moron, isn't he? Leaving his sword for anyone to just pilfer," Sigmund says to Cecil as he grabs Andrew's black executioner's sword and takes it out from its leather scabbard.
Cecil didn't want to be rude in front of Sigmund or let her emotions sway what she might say.
"Yes, very stupid actually. I doubt his hand would get stuck in a cookie jar because he'd still be trying to figure out how to open the lid," Cecil says with a smile. As usual, she fails to keep her aristocrat persona when Andrew is involved, even when he's not there.
Sigmund faintly smiles at Cecil's unbridled personality as he inspects the black executioner's sword. Ultimately he finds nothing out of the ordinary from it outside of its strange color brought out by the unknown material it's cast from.
The thought of putting vis into the sword does cross Sigmund's mind, which changes to him contemplating about using the incantation spell.
He gives in to his curiosity.
erfullen l'arme je greifen apud per vis et bringen ihr volles latent
"Infuse the weapons I grab with vis and bring out their full potential."
To his surprise though, the sword reacts as much as a brick wall being stared at. He ponders why and assumes that the sword is exclusively for its intended wielder, and that brings out more questions as to why Andrew has this sword and why he's able to wield it.
"Sir, you've been silent for a minute now," Cecil checks in on Sigmund. She's prepared to leave and meet with everyone else in the plaza.
By now, they should be done setting the executions there and are waiting for Sigmund's presence to proceed. Cecil understands why her commander wants to delay this as much as he can since one of the convicted is Andrew and that he'll hang with the archdemon, the two witches, and the excommunicated Cpt. Hagurd.
"It's nothing. I'm just wondering how much my former squire is causing me problems," Sigmund replies as he walks out of the workshop with Cecil right on him.
But as they near the door, Sigmund stops and turns around to stare at the empty hallway. He glances at Drew's sword before stabbing it into the wooden floor where he also cast aside its scabbard.
Cecil's shoulders jump out of fear from Sigmund's sudden action. It made her think that Sigurd's secretly angry at Andrew.
"Let's go." Sigmund turns back around and faces Cecil who has broken into a cold sweat. "Sir Cecil, what's wrong?"
"N, -Nothing sir. But, why are you leaving that sword there?" She asks which made Sigurd smile as he walks out of the door with her.
"I just remembered something you see, back when I was still serving under Sir Fafnir. I screwed up a bunch of times, but she's always forgiven me in the hopes that I'd do better next time.
I was a hopeless case, I even knew I was, but she didn't give up on me. So I'm going to do the same for Andrew," Sigmund explains and Cecil couldn't believe that someone like Sigurd wasn't born the perfect foil to Fafnir.
"Wait, 'under Fafnir'? Sir, wasn't it a male captain that made you into a squire?" Cecil points out an inconsistency in Sigmund's story.
A somber expression replaces the commander's mellow look. As Sigmund reminisces the sweet past with Fafnir, he also remembers the bitter ones before that.
"Yes, a man who didn't know trash when he saw it. He picked me up from the ground and forced me to be his squire since he didn't have any kids.
I didn't understand the value of the things he taught me until it was too late for me to show him how much I've grown." Sigmund looks up to stare at the sky longingly as he breathes out a clear sigh.
"I'm, sorry to hear that sir." Cecil holds her suitcase with both hands as she lowers her head in embarrassment.
"At ease. These are just memories now that helps keep me in check. Thank you, Sir Cecil, for helping me kill time," Sigmund replies while turning to face Cecil to show her that he's more than okay by smiling at her.
A light blush forms across Cecil's face as she sees the handsome but usually stoic Sigmund now smiling at her. In rose-tinted glasses, she sees that smile as something more than to reassure her and that Sigmund's sharp eyes are longingly staring at her instead of something else.
"S, Sir are you free on- SIR BEHIND YOU," Cecil shouts as she sees a dark silhouette charging towards the two of them with its blade gleaming with murderous intent.
Sigmund turns back to face the silhouette but at the same time backstepping and grabbing Cecil, pulling her away as he puts distance between the two of them and his attacker. However, Sigurd wasn't fast enough to avoid the assailant's strike, leaving his right eye blinded by a slash.
"Sir! Are you alright!?" Cecil asks seeing blood dripping from the wound.
"Yeah, it's pretty shallow and I'll still be able to see with this eye. Sir Cecil, can I ask you to assist me? I don't have a sword on me right now," Sigurd says as he grasps the empty scabbard strapped to his belt, the one that held the demon binding sword.
With one eye, Sigmund looks towards his assailant and sees the man running his tongue across the bloodstained tip of his sword while glaring at the two of them as though they were lambs.
His bright yellow eyes gleam with maliciousness while also looking devoid of any kind of humanity in them.
The man before Sigmund is Shin, one of Adela's accomplice, and a mercenary from the far east. The mercenary is clad in a black colored do-maru that he wears over his similarly black hakama with a red gradient. Though looking closer, the red accent on his armor and clothes turns out to be the blood of his victims.
The smell of death and malice hangs thick over him.
However, Shin's malice and bloodlust are challenged by Sigmund who, upon the sight of Shin, starts emanating the same murderous air as him which startles Cecil.
"Sir, I'll help you so-"
"No. Stay where you are. I'll handle this myself," Sigmund says suddenly changing his tune as he walks towards Shin with his hands clenching into fists.
"To think you'd still be here, I thought I had to go to Fay just to find you, but here you are before me. Hey, murderer, does my face ring any bells!?" Sigmund roars out as he glares darkly at Shin while loosening his tie, his breath almost looking like steam.
"I don't remember the faces of sheep," Shin replies as he charges through the snow to attack Sigmund who also runs up to Shin without any fear in his eyes.
"Then let me make you remember!" Sigmund grabs a hold of the pummel of Shin's katana, stopping the mercenary's swing that would have bisected him in two from the waist. The commander then, with his eyes flaring up with unbridled hate, headbutts Shin and throws him against a wall. "Six years ago, at the dead of night, you murdered a captain in cold-blood in front of his squire!"
"Ah, I hate it when lambs like you baa so much!" Like a cat, Shin realigns himself to land on his feet against the wall which he then uses to propel himself back towards Sigmund, his katana pointed deadly at him.
However, Sigmund manages to not only step aside to dodge the attack but he also knees Shin in the stomach while elbowing him on the back, crushing the mercenary between both attacks and knocking the air out of him.
But all of a sudden, a twisted grin comes over Shin's face and he swings his katana at Sigmund. Once again, the commander retreats a little too late and finds the right side of his torso slashed, leaving a bleeding wound that stretches from his shoulder and down to his waist.
"Not much of a close-combat fighter without a sword are we? Not very bright for a lamb!" Shin doesn't give Sigmund a minute to catch his breath as he comes barreling towards him with the intent of splitting him in two with a single strike.
To Shin's surprise, his katana finds itself clashing against a rapier that's been stabbed into the ground next to Sigmund. The mercenary then feels a large gust of air blow against his back. Cecil is no longer where she's standing, what's left is kicked up snow that's falling back down.
"Cecil!" Sigmund angrily shouts at Cecil who's butting in.
"With all due respect sir, you're in no condition to fight alone with that arm. You don't even have a sword and you're quite literally only seeing red," Cecil sasses Sigmund as she glares at Shin, her purple eyes changing into a glowing chartreuse hue.
Glowing yellow moth antennas unfurl out from Cecil's forehead, peeking out of her purple bangs. On the surface of her body, bright yellow body tattoos begin to reveal themselves.
"So, from here on out, it's our fight," Cecil declares.