The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 180

I used to agree with the saying that hardships make people strong.

However, a life of only hardships traps a person in darkness. Regardless of what it is, moderation is important.

The same was true for the life of Taylee McLaure.

While it was impressive, it was not a life that I would want to live. Not just me, but it seemed everyone had the same opinion.

The shining life of a hero who overcame various hardships in order to finally prove his life worthy……

At the very least, I didn’t want to live a life like that.

Who in the world would gladly embrace hardships?

Even if victory was guaranteed, I would still want to live a peaceful life. It was natural to think like that.

Because that was just how unfortunate Taylee’s life was.

* * *

Only the occasional cry of an owl could be heard in the forest.

I grabbed Lortel’s wrist as I dragged her along through the woods.

The only light we had came from a small bit of light magic that Lortel had cast. However, I had already completely memorized the path and engraved it into my mind. That was why I could run through the forest even in the dark.

Continuing to run without stopping, Lortel lowered her head to avoid getting hit by a tree branch as she followed along.

“Back at the camp, Bell should be waiting for us.”

“This late?”

“I told her beforehand.”

“When the hell does that head maid go to sleep?”

I heard that she slept only three hours at night and about four hours throughout the day, whenever she had free time.

Regardless, Bell was definitely abnormal, to the point I could only think of her in awe. I wondered if that was what it took to become the head maid at her age.

“Bell is the only one who has the keys to your villa in the camp. So, I asked her to open the door for us in advance.”

“Then I guess I just need to wait at my villa for now. I’m not sure exactly what is happening, but…”

“I’m certain that the Elte Store’s building is in a state of chaos by now. For now, there’s something I have to check when we reach the camp.”

After saying that, I jumped over the root of a large tree and pulled Lortel’s wrist upwards.

She must have been physically exhausted by that point, but Lortel jumped up when I pulled her without saying a word.

“Is Bell Maya someone you can trust?”

Suddenly, Lortel asked a question.

As it was a completely unexpected question, I stood for a moment while looking towards her.

“Bell Maya?”

“I was just wondering if there is any chance that she is on Dune’s side…”

“I guess you’re suspicious of Bell, as well.”

“Ed. I am a person who doubts everyone aside from you.”

In the dark, the leaves rustled and swayed from the night wind. Standing next to each other in the middle of the northern forest at night, it was as if the two of us were alone, floating in space.

“I can’t help… but be like this.”

“……”

“I just can’t trust Bell Maya completely. I know she’s a good person, but that was when I was her employer.”

I could see Lortel’s expression underneath her hood… She didn’t look all that bright.

Maybe it was because of the urgency of the situation, but her usual sly and snarky appearance didn’t show itself.

Lortel Kehelland was someone who always smiled calmly, no matter how desperate the situation was.

However, when she was alone with me… did she take that mask off?

“People’s hearts change easily. Through a contract with better terms, your own business partners who have been with you for decades would easily leave you. I’ve seen too many people like that.”

“Even if that’s the case, I’m not like that.”

“That’s true. However… I have become tired of doubt.”

We needed to quickly run, but Lortel stood there grabbing onto my sleeve tightly.

Looking at her, Lortel spoke quietly under the glimmer of that magic light.

“I’ve been a merchant since I was young. I’ve seen a lot of wealthy merchants rule over people with their great power and authority. Do you know the characteristics of the people who survived so long on top of that tower made of gold coins?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s holding onto their own disgustingly tight. Once they are convinced a person is theirs, they will hold onto them tightly until the day they die and enter their graves.”

Lortel’s childhood started in Oldek, a cruel city of commerce.

When she was playing in the slums, when she went to an orphanage, when she lived as a junior employee at the company, when she lived as the heir of a wealthy merchant, when she became a wealthy merchant and controlled a massive amount of gold coins.

From the start to the end, the countless people she saw while climbing that mountain with her teeth clenched…

Since she lived the life of a merchant, most of the people she saw while climbing were those who had fallen into obsession over calculations.

Lortel would have always tried to make careful judgments with her bright eyes wide open.

“After rising to the position of deputy director, I realized it much too late. For me… there is no ‘person’ I have…”

Whether they were the president of a large corporation, a famous politician, or commander of a military unit.

The people who reached the top always found their own people, regardless of the generation.

The existence of their own who would stand by their side. Someone who they never had to calculate things with and never left them alone. To the people at the top, that type of person was more precious than gold.

The words I told Lortel as we walked around Silvenia in the middle of night that day started to feel even more prevalent.

Didn’t I tell her that the bustling education district in the middle of the day didn’t feel particularly different from the quiet scenery at night?

She must have always felt the same as when she sat in her office in the Elte Store.

The reason the two of us felt lonely even in a crowd was because there was no one we could be close to.

Looking at Lortel’s expression…

Lortel Kehelland, the deputy director of the Elte Company, who always wore layers of sly and scheming foxlike masks. The girl who had become cold-blooded as she led the store… her bare face was finally showing.

Was it because she thought it was just the two of us in a dark forest, with no one else around?

Seeing the lonely look in her lowered eyes, she finally started to look like a girl of her age.

Lortel Kehelland tugged at the sleeves of my robe. She then grabbed the collar around my neck as she came up close to my face.

Lortel’s dazzling eyes were now in front of my nose. I was taken aback by the weak appearance of her face, but Lortel spoke without caring.

“Please be mine.”

As if she was finally certain that there was no one else around watching.

“I will be that person for you, too.”

Like that… She had finally shown me the bottom of her heart.

“Because nothing is free in this world. This is an interdependent contract between us.”

“You’re saying something ridiculous, Lortel.”

As if my reaction bothered her, Lortel’s lips started to go down. It was a sight that was hard to believe. At that moment, Lortel Kehelland looked like she was going to cry.

Lortel Kehelland, of all people.

Since I didn’t like that expression one bit, I answered her right away.

“…I’ve been yours for a long time already.”

The importance of finding and caring for one’s own… There was no way I wouldn’t know about it.

So, I felt the same.

Once I was convinced that a person was mine, I held onto them tightly until the end—even if it didn’t benefit me.

A relationship that couldn’t be replaced with money. Most people only came to realize it through experience.

I was someone who had already refused Dune’s proposal.

“Hearing you say that, were you not mine all this time?”

I asked Lortel back.

Even though we spoke about feeling loneliness in a crowd, Lortel and I had known each other for over two years already.

At that point, didn’t we already know everything we needed to know about each other?

“……”

In some cases, one day a sudden change could occur. But most of the time, a person’s values and their environment changed slowly and gradually.

It was a given that, when you suddenly opened your eyes after not paying attention to yourself, you would come to realize that you had changed.

That was why you would always be one step behind in realizing that you had changed.

From the poor ghettos to the top of the Elte Company.

A young child who used to walk in shabby clothes to suddenly become a wealthy merchant, wearing an expensive robe that was embroidered with golden thread.

Even if it seemed like a natural progression, if she took a look back at her footsteps, she would realize that she had climbed to a much higher place then she had thought.

The same was true for my own worries and loneliness.

Searching for a long time for a person I could make my own, by the time I realized it, such a person was right in front of me.

Lortel Kehelland sniffled.

“……”

“…Hey, all of a sudden… Is this something to cry about…?”

“You’re so noisy. This is the first time I’ve sniffled in front of another.”

Her damp voice was surprising, even for me.

Was there really anything so special about her finally showing her bare face under those masks?

Even though she lived life as a sly merchant with a smirk on her face, in the end, Lortel Kehelland was no different from everyone else.

She then fell into my arms as I held onto her silently, standing there for a while.

* * *

The fight between Elvira and Taylee was heading towards becoming a prolonged battle.

Although the battlefield itself was in Elvira’s hands, there was no way for her to directly damage Taylee.

Taylee was not only born with excellent physical strength, but he has also trained even strong through hardships.

It was absurd to think of defeating him through strength alone. However, Elvira wasn’t proficient enough in combat magic to injure him through magic, either.

In the end, the only way she could fight was to wear down his stamina by using her knowledge of alchemy and magic engineered equipment.

Clang! Hwaak!

Taylee tried attacking Elvira by swinging his greatsword laterally, but he was pushed away by the magic engineering item ‘Shock-Enhanced Wave Ball.’

Elvira then blocked his vision through a smoke screen reagent as she tried to distance herself from Taylee once more. However, Taylee, who managed to clench his teeth and withstand the shock, jumped forward and closed the distance once more.

“With those petty tricks… You can’t stop me…!”

“I think you are right!”

Elvira then surpassed Taylee’s expectations as she jumped towards him.

By closing the distance with him like she was, she would certainly be defeated quickly.

Taylee was momentarily flustered, but that didn’t mean he was going to let the chance pass him by.

When he turned the sword’s trajectory towards Elvira, she took out a reagent bottle from her pocket, not caring that her shoulder was right up against his sword.

‘Red Flame Flower Reagent’.

As Elvira cast a small spell, a huge flame erupted.

Of course Taylee, but even Elvira, was caught up in it.

“Keuk!”

The moment Taylee clenched his teeth to endure the heat, she poured the reagent onto his left hand, which was holding the greatsword.

“Keuk!”

It wasn’t a large flame, but if he held onto it any longer, he would definitely be burned. Taylee let go of the sword in surprise as Elvira kicked the sword away.

Taylee had lost his sword in that instant. However, that wasn’t enough for him to lose in a close combat duel with Elvira. In the first place, Taylee was someone who fought with his bare fists before picking up the sword.

Then, the moment Taylee clenched his fist—

Elvira brushed away the flames that were on the top of her head, extinguishing them as she then grabbed her left shoulder, which was bleeding.

The flowing blood painted Elvira’s left arm red. It wasn’t a deep wound, but there was some bleeding.

Upon seeing it, even Taylee lost his breath for a moment.

He wounded Elvira with his own hands. He realized that fact right away as blood started to flow in his head.

“Elvira.”

Instead of clenching his fist, Taylee opened his mouth.

“There is no reason to go any further. Just… Get out of the way…”

But Elvira responded while taking out two bluish reagents.

“You’re so noisy. Bring it on, Taylee.”

“Just what… Did Ed Rothstaylor tell you… For you to do all of this…?!”

Taylee spoke with his head lowered.

“I don’t want to fight with you. I just… want to save Ayla.”

“You talk too much, Taylee.”

Elvira dropped two reagent bottles on the floor, breaking them. The magic power that rose from the reagents made the area around Elvira’s body a bluish color.

Elvira pulled out the two rabbit-shaped hairpins that were attached to the back of her head.

Elvira’s loose hair fluttered in the night wind.

“Are you going to fight with your mouth? Take me seriously.”

“……”

Taylee was sitting in the dirt, watching Elvira quietly.

He had no will to fight. However, if Elvira rushed in at him, he would have no choice but to deal with her.

Even if Elvira was his precious classmate, she couldn’t be considered more precious than Ayla.

Then… Taylee began to draw magic power into his body.

Fwoooooooosh!

Elvira’s hairpin grew, two gigantic bunnies appearing.

They looked like rabbits, but their horrific and sharp molars and their creepy bright red eyes were definitely not normal.

Familiars that were created by mixing the qualities of a wolf and a rabbit.

Then, as Elvira was gathering more magic power to cast elemental magic—

Paaak!

Kwakakakak!

After that, it all happened in a flash.

Taylee McLaure was a boy who lived every moment of his life to the utmost. The same was true for his training.

His Swordmaster’s Skills had grown a lot, and he was now considered a strong student within the school.

Even Elvira knew that fact. She was waiting for him to take her seriously.

She didn’t know how strong Taylee was at his most serious, but she knew well that—at the very least—he wasn’t someone who would lose to someone like her, who didn’t specialize in combat.

Elvira’s role was… to make Taylee start taking things seriously.

And to make him take things seriously to some extent, that meant his opponent had to do the same.

However, when he was serious, Taylee’s sword attack… wasn’t possible for Elvira’s eyes to follow.

In the moment that felt like a flash…

Was it even enough time to blink?

The two rabbits… were completely cut in half.

It was strange. There was no sword in Taylee’s hand.

Taylee’s greatsword, which was lying on the floor, was clearly still in sight. However, the rabbit familiars were neatly cut into two pieces, as if they had been cut by a sword.

Then, the third sword attack.

Only then did Elvira realize—

A mythical swordsmanship that was created by the first swordmaster Luden, which was only passed down to those born with the blood of a McLaure. Swordsmanship.

A Swordmaster’s Skill.

Among those ancient techniques, which held countless types of swordsmanship, being able to use swordsmanship without a sword… ‘Empty Swordsmanship’.

It was a magic power swordsmanship that cut down an opponent by gathering magic power.

There was no point in noticing that fact belatedly.

Taylee’s third sword attack that came in the dark… It was already flying towards Elvira’s body.

Taylee’s resolution was obvious from Taylee’s expression as he clenched his teeth.

If someone threatened Ayla’s life, even if it was Elvira, he would cut them down. That determination of his was even a bit cruel.

Clang!

However, that sword attack didn’t reach Elvira.

That attack didn’t reach her… It disappeared, only leaving a small cut on her.

It was because the sword of another man had intervened, deflecting it.

Hwaaaaaaaak!

The smell of blood.

In the darkness of the night. There, a monster with bright red-eyes resided. Elvira, who had closed her eyes tightly, looked forward again.

As she was lying on the floor, she could only see their back.

Looking at the blade of the sword that was dripping in blood… A swordsman with a gloomy impression could be seen.

“What… Do you think you’re doing, Taylee?”

The man, bleeding from the back of his shoulder, was staring straight at Taylee, his eyes cutting through the night air.

At that moment, Elvira quickly swallowed her breath as she raised her voice, saying,

“Clevius, this is…!”

“You’re too loud. Be quiet, Elvira.”

He was a person who had been dragged around and suffered at Elvira’s hands. However, with those few words, he was able to completely silence her.

The energy flowing in his body was completely different. It was obvious that Clevius was unlike his usual self.

Taylee slowly picked up his greatsword and… looked straight at Clevius. With his upper body hanging down like a zombie… Clevius absorbed magic power from the blood flowing along the sword he held in his hand.

It was a rumor that Taylee McLaure had heard before. It was quite a famous one.

Within House Nortondale, there lived a blade demon.

Fewer people than you would think were able to confirm that horrific rumor with their own two eyes.

* * *

“I’ve unlocked the villa door for you.”

When we got back to camp, Bell had prepared the campfire and cleaned up the entire villa.

As Lortel and I arrived, she was there warming up by the campfire.

It was as if she was camping… She sat blankly by the fire, holding her hands out to the flames, all alone.

“…There is something about this camp that has the power to make people relax.”

It seemed that after finishing all her work, she had sat by the campfire in a daze.

Perhaps because she was embarrassed at being caught relaxing, which was quite rare for Bell, she said that with an awkward expression on her face.

“You two can stay inside the villa and I will report when someone comes to visit or if something else happens.”

“Thanks, Bell.”

After saying that, I held Lortel’s hand as I brought her inside the villa.

With Bell standing guard outside the villa, we would wait for a change in the situation. In the meantime, I needed to exchange information with Lortel to figure out what Dune had been scheming.

Dune had to be in a complete panic, trying to take care of the chaos Taylee was causing back at the store. So, we had some time to figure things out.

Anyway, it was safe to say that Taylee would never be able to reach the top. The opponents I prepared for him were too cruel for him to deal with by himself.

Even though he was considered a protagonist who was able to overcome any hardship, there was still a limit to it.

Thinking that… I had brought Lortel all the way back to the villa.

Somehow, we needed to regain control of the Elte Company once again.

That was the number one goal.