Extra in a Romance Fantasy

16 – Disaster

“Aira Liberion, your penalty is two weeks of sobriety.”

Two weeks of sobriety, that was her assigned penalty.

Compared to the magnitude of the incident, it was a relatively lenient punishment. However, the absence of intention, the Academy’s negligence in adequately preparing for demons, her good conduct and grades, and most importantly, the lack of casualties played a significant role in limiting the penalty to two weeks of sobriety.

After completing the investigation as a precaution for unforeseen events, she immediately began her period of sobriety.

During those two weeks, she contemplated many things within the dormitory room.

Most of her thoughts were directed towards the recent incident.

No, to be more precise, they were directed towards the man who had concluded that incident, Wade Heblon.

─ “It was quite dangerous. Not only the abdominal wounds, but it seems your physical condition was already at its limit before. It’s a wonder you could move with this condition.”

The words of the priest who had treated Wade echoed.

Later, she heard that he had thrown himself at the entrance of the dungeon and jumped into it himself.

It was a crazy act in itself, but the man broke through the dungeon, even getting stabbed by a sword, all to save her.

Even when his own life was at risk.

Why.

That short word didn’t leave my mind.

The gratitude I felt towards him was undoubtedly significant.

But along with it, there were equally significant questions.

Why, why did he make such a choice?

Our closeness was limited to being in the same combat unit and working on a group project together.

In reality, it was even questionable to call it closeness.

But why, exactly?

That question continued to swirl in my head since that day, but I couldn’t come up with an answer.

I, who had been pondering over that problem for days, eventually gave up trying to find the answer on my own.

It was a problem I couldn’t solve no matter how much I thought about it.

So, she decided to repay the favor, focusing on just one thing.

Wade Heblon, he saved her life.

How could she possibly repay such a favor?

Monetary compensation was insufficient.

Then what?

The answer to that question was not as difficult to come by as she initially thought.

If he risked his life, she would save his life in return.

If a crisis befell him someday, she would sacrifice her life if necessary to rescue him.

That’s what she resolved.

And to do that, she needed to be by his side.

“Well, I’m counting on you….”

Joining his club was for that reason alone.

There was definitely no other reason.

…Probably.

Life doesn’t always unfold as we intend.

I’m realizing that again… no, every day recently.

“Hey, isn’t that person…?”

“Oh, is that the person you were talking about?”

No matter where I go, it’s become somewhat trivial for people to recognize me now.

However, the problem wasn’t just that.

The Battle Arts professor, Wurt, was also one of the reasons disrupting my daily life these days.

During the last Ayla incident, I owed him a great debt.

If he hadn’t acted swiftly, my life would have been in even greater danger.

Moreover, just entering the dungeon itself was nothing short of a nuisance for him.

In the end, things turned out well, but if I had been wrong, Wurt would have endured considerable anxiety until the dungeon was resolved due to his inadequate management.

Knowing this, I expressed sincere gratitude and apologized to him.

Wurt’s response at that time was,

-“Courage and recklessness must be distinguished, Wade Heblon.”

…and that was it.

There were no further words.

Of course, a lengthy sermon wouldn’t have been welcome, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it could end with just this.

However, I quickly moved on with the thought that good is good enough.

But the real problem started from then on.

Wurt’s gaze towards me became intensely uncomfortable.

Originally, there had been such signs since the dungeon practice.

But it became more pronounced.

I don’t know exactly what that gaze held, but it was certainly not a look meant for someone like me, a troublemaker.

“Wade Heblon.”

Sure enough, today too, without fail, Wurt called me.

Unable to ignore the professor’s words in person, I reluctantly responded.

“…Yes.”

“Devote yourself diligently.”

Leaving behind a casual remark, Wurt distanced himself from me.

…Recently, leaving inexplicable encouragement like this seemed to have become more frequent.

“Hey, it seems like Professor Wurt really likes you to this extent for the first time.”

At that moment, someone approached from behind me.

It was one of the combat arts instructors.

Glancing at Wurt, who had now moved away, he smiled at me.

“Should I call them a junior now?”

I hurriedly left the spot and ran away.

…Even up until this point, the taste of the food had worsened, but unfortunately, the disaster that befell me did not end here.

“……”

“……”

“……”

A silence permeated the room.

Although there were three people inside, not a single word was exchanged.

It’s not like our club was particularly talkative.

But this space was not simply quiet.

If I were to compare it, it felt like a powder keg that could explode at any moment.

The atmosphere of the club changed since Ara joined.

Actually, the atmosphere wasn’t bad from the beginning.

“Nice to meet you, Ara Yang.”

“I-I’m…nice to meet you too…”

Rachel welcomed Ara with a bright smile, and Ara greeted Rachel politely, albeit shyly.

Thanks to the fact that both of them were beauties, a rather heartwarming scene unfolded.

Ara and Rachel seemed to be getting along well, despite their awkwardness.

The tension between them started on a certain day.

It happened on a day when only Ara and I were in the club room by chance.

“Are you…are you feeling better now?”

She asked me urgently.

“I’m fine. I’ve completely recovered.”

It seemed like Ara was concerned about the injury I had at that time.

Well, if she saw that scene up close, it would be hard for her not to be concerned.

“I’m…glad to hear that…”

Ara said with a smile.

Although her smile revealed some shyness and timidity, her face brightened noticeably compared to before.

I don’t know why, but something good must have happened, so I let it pass.

And our conversation continued a little longer.

It was an ordinary, unremarkable conversation, yet throughout their exchange, Ai-ra’s smile never left her face.

Midway through, something happened.

*Kiiiiink—*

Rachel entered the room.

“Hello—”

As always, Rachel greeted upon entering.

“……”

Her eyes widened as she beheld the scene inside.

Then she alternated her gaze between me and Ai-ra.

Ai-ra hastily covered her face with the book she held in her hands.

Rachel scrutinized Ai-ra closely.

“……”

That must have been the turning point.

Rachel’s gaze upon Ai-ra changed.

Her demeanor didn’t vary significantly from before, but there was an undeniable shift.

And at some point, Ai-ra changed too, until now, we occasionally eyed each other with a wary glance.

Caught in an inexplicable tension, I found myself holding my breath.

“Oh? Everyone’s here.”

Only Senior Lunnia’s presence offered me respite.

However, Senior Lunnia was generally late to the club meetings.

Thus, I spent most of my time in the club feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

…These elements converged, wearing down my daily life and my very being…

“Hey, you alright?”

Jack’s concern had reached a point of worry.

Though nothing visibly seemed off about me, I realized Jack, sharing the same room lately, wouldn’t miss the change in my sighs.

Feeling slightly apologetic about this fact, I lowered my head.

“…I’m fine.”

“…Nah, doesn’t seem like it. Come on, follow me.”

Perhaps my response wasn’t convincing enough; Jack pulled me out of the dorm.

“People need some fresh air once in a while.”

The place Jack led me to was the city of Perdion outside the academy.

Perdion, a city formed after the establishment of the academy.

With the symbolic significance of the academy and the rapid development fueled by the prestige of those who gathered there, Perdion had now become a city of considerable size and progress on the continent.

Well-maintained roads, endless buildings, and countless people filling the spaces in between.

The sight of Perdion was truly incomparable to the Blunoa family’s territory.

Come to think of it, I had never properly explored Perdion.

I had briefly wandered around with Mary before the entrance exam or the induction ceremony, but Perdion seemed too vast to grasp with just that.

If I had ventured into Perdion more frequently on weekends or holidays, it might have been a different story, but I wasn’t one to leave the dormitory very often.

Honestly, I wasn’t particularly interested, but the impressions of Perdion today weren’t as bad as I had thought.

It was a somewhat comforting feeling, easing the roughness in my heart.

“Where are we going?”

“Stop asking and just follow.”

Jack began walking ahead without even providing a specific explanation, and I followed behind him.

Eventually, we arrived at a rather neat-looking restaurant.

“The food here is quite decent.”

I didn’t have high expectations, but I ordered and ate according to Jack’s guidance.

The taste couldn’t objectively surpass the restaurants inside the academy, but it had its own unique flavor.

It was only after the meal that I somewhat felt like I understood what Jack had mentioned about the ‘taste of eating outside.’

After finishing our meal, we strolled around Perdion.

It was an outing without any particular plan, just moderate and endlessly unremarkable, but it wasn’t bad.

It felt like regaining a sense of leisure after a long time.

While casually looking around, I noticed an old woman sitting on a mat by the roadside.

In front of the old woman, there was a crystal ball.

You didn’t need to guess to know what the old woman was doing.

“Oh, it’s a fortune-teller.”

Jack spotted the old woman and headed straight towards her.

I naturally followed behind.

A fortune-teller. Normally, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but today, for some reason, it piqued my interest.

“Ma’am, please tell our fortunes.”

Jack stepped forward.

The old fortune teller glanced at Jack and spoke.

“What aspect would you like me to examine?”

“Take a look at my love fortune.”

Truly a Jack-like request.

Nofa nodded silently, placing both hands on the crystal ball in front of her and began to gaze intently into it.

Before long, Nofa’s lips parted.

“It’s dark.”

“Pardon?”

“Your love fortune doesn’t show any promise at all.”

“What are you talking about?”

Upon hearing Nofa’s words, Jack furrowed his brow in disbelief.

Then, abruptly, he turned to me.

“Hey, isn’t this nonsense? Let’s just go somewhere else.”

Apparently, Nofa’s divination did not align with Jack’s taste.

Nevertheless, I felt that the fortune-telling might be accurate.

Considering how Jack, despite his enthusiasm for women, seemed oddly unsuccessful in his pursuits.

It might be the reason.

“Let me give it a try too.”

“Hey, it’s better to just stop, right?”

Despite Jack’s protest, I was determined to see what the fortune teller had in store.

“Fine, what do you want to know?”

Nofa looked at me.

Her eyes seemed to hold an indiscernible depth.

“The future.”

“Very well. Please wait a moment.”

Once again, Nofa reached out towards the crystal ball.

And for quite a while, she stared at it.

It took longer than when she was reading Jack’s love fortune.

Perhaps because predicting the future was more ambiguous compared to matters of love.

With a sense of growing anticipation, I silently awaited Nofa’s words.

“Ah, it looks like it’ll be quite a struggle.”

However, that anticipation was dashed as soon as the old man opened his mouth.

“…Pardon?”

“The road ahead is quite thorny. And with a tendency to leap into danger, your hardships will be severe. I’ve read fortunes for quite some time, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone facing such a treacherous path.”

“…”

I felt the slight ease from the long-awaited outing dissipate into frustration once more.

“Let’s go.”

“I did advise you to quit earlier.”

After roughly paying the old man for his divination, we departed.

He didn’t detain us or add any further words.

“Ah, don’t fret. He’s just a quack,” Jack reassured me.

Yeah, it’s merely a shallow fortune-telling.

There’s no need to dwell on such unreliable predictions.

Indeed, fortunes and the like are not worth believing.

With that thought, I erased everything about divination from my mind.

…Yet, it didn’t take long for my thoughts to change.

“Senior Wade? Your guests are waiting.”

Perhaps that old man’s divination wasn’t entirely baseless.

It might indeed be an endlessly rough path ahead of me.

“Hmm. So, you’re Wade Heblon.”

Meeting his glinting silver hair and enigmatic purple eyes, that’s what I thought.