I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

The exploration went incredibly smoothly.

Thanks to Grain’s abilities, we skipped over things that I had to check by foot, just picking the right answers and sailing through without a hitch.

The only hassle was that we ended up walking a long way due to a simple, wide rift.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE: This feature is currently locked]

[Unlock Conditions: Contribute to clearing a total of 5 rifts with 40% or more participation (4/5)]

But now, we were really just one step away.

So, when I was about to head out in high spirits to find the last Rift Stone…

“I feel like something’s wrong.”

Grain’s expression darkened quickly while using his abilities, and he blurted that out.

I got a rough explanation of what was going on, and it was clear that something had gone terribly wrong.

‘In the original story, this never happened… no, wait.’

It was too late to even bring up the original. Since a synthetic rift suddenly popped up, the original story had become irrelevant.

But the fact that Alkiné was missing was truly a troublesome matter, causing my head to ache somewhat.

With this situation now, I couldn’t just focus on clearing the rifts as before.

First and foremost, I needed to find out what was going on.

“Let’s go right now!”

There was no hesitation. I moved forward immediately.

We quickly reached the Student Council; it wasn’t far.

However, the atmosphere definitely didn’t look good. They all had expressions like cattle being led to the slaughter.

I figured I should hear from them what had happened, so I approached, and soon the Student Council members who spotted Grain rushed over all at once.

Especially the two guys sticking next to her were making quite a fuss.

“Grain! Are you okay?”

“I told you to rest, and yet you came all the way here. That’s so like you.”

“Cain, Golid. I appreciate your concern, but now’s not the time for that, is it?”

“….”

Seeing the full-on “three-man group from an anime” for the first time in ages was touching, but Grain’s comment brought the mood crashing back down.

Honestly, I didn’t care how serious and gloomy they were. What mattered was getting the details on what had happened.

“Can you just tell me what’s going on?”

In response to Grain’s straightforward question, Cain and Golid began to explain.

The incident occurred when Cain and Golid were swapping shifts on watch.

They had just woken up in a daze, about to tell the other shift that nothing had happened, and planned to head into the makeshift tent to sleep.

But then, something appeared behind the temporary shelter.

They couldn’t even check what it was. By the time they felt the ominous presence and rushed over, nothing was left; not even the Student Council President who had been there.

“Though she looked tired and dozing off, she was definitely there until something showed up. I swear.”

After that, Cain and the others searched high and low for any trace of the President but had no success at all.

Listening to all this, I felt puzzled.

What could suddenly appear and disappear in an instant? It wasn’t a matter of where Alkiné had gone.

“…She was dozing off? The President?”

What really struck me was that Alkiné had “dozed off.”

How much had they overworked her if someone as tough as her could fall asleep after fighting for three days straight?

While I sat there flabbergasted, Grain casually interrupted the conversation.

“I got the gist, so never mind that. Where exactly did the President disappear from?”

“Oh, that way. Follow me.”

Following Cain and Golid’s lead, we arrived at the untidy makeshift shelter.

However, there were only frantic signs of them searching the area for the now-missing President; there was nothing else to find.

I glanced around, wondering if something would catch my eye, but unfortunately, nothing was visible even to game logic.

Guess it was up to Grain from here.

However, before she even started anything, her expression turned serious.

As I was about to ask what was wrong, she quickly unleashed her abilities and muttered curse words.

“…What the hell.”

Everyone fell silent looking at Grain. It was definitely a serious situation.

Having figured things out, Grain merely waited for a chance to convey her findings to us.

After a moment, she let out a hollow laugh and cautiously turned to face us.

Then she said,

“It seems the Vice President turned into a demon and kidnapped the President?”

“…Huh?”

What in the world was that supposed to mean?

So, the missing Vice President… turned into a demon and… uh, yeah….

Whatever the case, it was certain that things had gone horribly wrong.

Diggerus Jibchak.

From the get-go, he seemed obsessed with his name, and I always thought he’d show up someday and cause chaos.

But… I never imagined he’d actually turn into a demon and kidnap the President.

‘What a headache this is turning into.’

The problems we had thus far felt like they were just mildly tangled. Everything had some order, even if it was a bit jumbled up.

There still seemed to be parts that matched up to the original story, to some extent.

But this? This was a completely wrong direction.

The Vice President’s sudden betrayal and her transformation into a demon.

And using those powers to kidnap Alkiné? None of this was in the original at all.

What’s going on? Is it because I stirred up too much chaos?

Considering everything I’ve done so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if a butterfly effect turned into a full-blown dinosaur effect.

Thinking back on it now was too late. If I started worrying about that, I’d be cautious about every action from now on, and I really didn’t want to live like that.

So, it was clear what I had to do now.

“Grain, can you pinpoint where the President went?”

“…Do you want to go?”

“Of course, I have to go.”

If anything, this was partly my fault.

Even without that, I was going to save her anyway.

I might’ve rushed things a bit. The Student Council members who were watching quietly looked dazed and unable to follow, so I gave them some instructions.

“Don’t think about doing anything else, just go outside and wait. I’ll save the President and come back.”

Meaning, they didn’t have anything to do, so they might as well sit tight and suck their thumbs.

Ah, I didn’t mean it literally. Well, not really…

But if a first-year gives that kind of command, it’s bound to sound like that to them… they probably weren’t too pleased about it.

I thought about it.

“…Are you really going to be okay? It’s not like we’re dealing with just anything, it’s a demon. Wouldn’t it be better to inform the Academy and ask for help?”

But that was the only response I got. I didn’t feel any negative looks aimed at me at all.

I casually replied.

“It would take too long to explain and find someone who can help outside.”

“That’s true. Alright then.”

…That was it?

I was taken aback by how easily they accepted it.

Was my reputation suddenly on the rise without me realizing it?

Now that I think about it, it made sense.

I had already been given the title of Secretary by Alkiné, and the last thing I did was have the President imply that she was relying on me.

Well… if they just follow my orders without any fuss, I’ll take it as a win…

Ah, who cares. It’s too late to act weak now. If they want to keep thinking I’m some kind of hero, that’s fine by me.

As usual, I decided not to think too deeply about the future.

Right now, the priority was to rescue Alkiné.

“So, Grain? What’s the President’s location…?”

“Yeah. I’m going to use my ability, so help me out.”

“…Is it okay to show it in front of everyone?”

“What does it matter?”

In the end, I ended up revealing how to maximize Grain’s abilities in front of everyone.

Thanks to that, not only did Grain’s reputation increase, but mine appeared to skyrocket as well… But I decided not to think about it.

“Not too far. This way.”

Using her ability, Grain pinpointed Alkiné’s location and drew a rough map for us.

Of course, calling it a map was a stretch; it just vaguely indicated directions, but it was enough help.

“Thank you. Now you should go back with the others.”

“Are you going alone?”

“No, I’m going with Seria.”

“With Seria?”

Grain looked surprised, alternating her gaze between me and Seria.

And why wouldn’t she? I knew I could take on demons, but Seria had never been allowed to come along to the rifts before.

It must seem dangerous to take her where demons were.

Of course, if I told them about the whole demon incident at the Royal Palace, the situation would be different, but I had to keep quiet about that to avoid potential complications.

“…Yeah. That much magic should help.”

Luckily, it seemed that Grain recalled the level of magic Seria had shown earlier, and that seemed to help her accept it.

Watching all of this unfold, Seria quietly chimed in.

“Grain, instead of worrying about me, focus on finding a way to get the others back safely.”

“…The junior members came in all excited, but they’re all disappointingly unremarkable.”

Grain said that a bit bluntly, but she knew it meant to tell me to not worry and to head back, so she lightly replied and headed back toward where the Student Council members were.

Then the urgency hit me. I really had to move quickly since I had no idea what was going to happen.

First of all…

“Seria.”

“Yes?”

“Want me to carry you, or do you want to hold on to me?”

“…I’ll pass on that.”

Looks like running was the only option.

With Seria held in a princess carry, I dashed in the direction Grain had indicated.

It crossed my mind that it might have been faster to just teleport with Seria’s magic, but by that time, we had already reached our destination.

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