I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

As I followed the direction given by Grain, I stumbled upon a structure I had never seen before.

It was too big to be called a house, yet too small to be a castle—a rough stone building.

It didn’t have a sleek look; in fact, its ruggedness was complemented by patches of moss here and there.

However, it seemed to be in pristine condition, as if it had just been built.

But… the shape was strangely familiar.

‘What the heck is this? Is this some kind of demon architecture?’

When you enter an area with a bunch of demons, you see buildings like this everywhere.

I figured it was just for the map’s atmosphere, and the demons had taken over buildings that were already there, but with this, it made me think that demons might actually prefer this style.

It wouldn’t be strange for such a building to be here. According to Grain, the person inside should be Diggerus, who has now become a demon.

I thought it didn’t really matter what kind of house demons lived in. With that thought, I hesitated for a moment before resuming my pace.

“Let’s go right in.”

“…Wait a minute. Are we really just going to go in like this? I could just be set down…”

“Just in case. You prepare a defensive spell.”

Seria was still in my arms. Her abilities were heavily focused on magic, so her physical capabilities weren’t great.

Seeing her move effortlessly after hours of constant travel, it seemed she had managed to cheat her stamina using magic, but her movements still felt a bit creaky.

So, even if she couldn’t dodge, I figured it would be more efficient to carry Seria and let her concentrate on her defensive magic.

There might have been a better way to do it.

But right now, my mind was too anxious to think of another plan as we needed to move forward.

As soon as we entered the building, what lay before us was an array of flickering red traps… quite a sight to behold.

The problem was that it seemed many of them were triggered without needing to be touched.

It was unlikely we could simply evade them without trouble.

“Rudion.”

Seria called my name, perhaps sensing the tension in the air.

I nodded slightly to indicate I understood and moved forward again.

Suddenly, a red beam swept over the spot where I was standing.

“Ah!”

I quickly dove to the side to dodge, but in the process, I tightened my grip on Seria, tilting her body almost to the point of throwing her.

Honestly, I was a bit flustered. It didn’t feel like this when I carried Alkiné before.

Was it because Alkiné had excellent stats? She managed to balance herself unusually well even while being held.

So I could move without any worries back then…

“R-Rudion. Um… don’t hold me so tightly, please.”

It seemed Seria wasn’t as stable. We might have been similar in weight, but the difference in stability was striking.

…Is comparing this really appropriate in this situation?

I didn’t think so, so I decided to stop thinking about it.

“Sorry. Just hang on a bit longer.”

“…Okay.”

For now, all we could do was move forward.

We continued to break through the waves of traps.

Since I was carrying Seria, I had to navigate the traps head-on without dodging, and let me tell you, that wasn’t easy.

Avoiding them wasn’t a huge issue since I could see their patterns… but Seria was a whole other problem.

“Aah! Ugh, aaah! Rudion! Could you at least go a little slower… and stop bending my body so much!”

“Hey, these traps are densely packed! How am I supposed to consider each one individually!? Just bear with it!”

Well… even while complaining, she kept using her defensive magic, so perhaps she was managing okay?

Of course, that didn’t mean she was carrying me steadily… I still heard all sorts of complaints and strange sounds like “ugh,” “eek,” and “ack,” but we managed to act like it didn’t bother us.

Since it wasn’t a very big building, we quickly cleared the traps and reached the door.

“It feels like something’s in there. I can sense an ominous vibe right in front of us.”

According to Seria, both Alkiné and Diggerus seemed to be inside.

With no reason to hesitate, I kicked the door and charged inside.

Bam!

“Wah! Rudion! I told you not to pull me toward you so much!”

But in that moment of rushing forward, I ended up yanking Seria right into my chest again.

Seria hurriedly turned her head away from me like a cat startled by some terrible smell.

…Wait a minute. Do I smell bad?

Seeing Seria’s reaction, it occurred to me that I might actually smell.

“It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose. When you’re moving around, it’s unavoidable. But do I smell bad? I don’t think I sweated much.”

“That’s not the issue… Ugh, never mind.”

Given the situation, I figured Seria would understand. Right now, her safety was the priority.

I looked around the room we entered.

It was quite spacious but completely empty, except for a few supporting pillars.

And right in the center of that empty room stood a giant cage.

“Isn’t Alkiné inside that cage?”

“Right.”

Alkiné was looking at us from within the cage, and she seemed a bit worn out.

Well, considering she had been tired and then suddenly kidnapped, it would be strange if she looked fine.

The fact that she hadn’t escaped could suggest that her powers might have been sealed.

Even though I knew she wasn’t okay, I had to ask out of courtesy, right?

“Alkiné! Are you safe?”

At my question, Alkiné nodded faintly.

Phew. That’s a relief. She looks a bit drained, but nothing seems to be wrong.

‘Then…’

I slyly shifted my gaze to the man I had been ignoring.

Diggerus Jibchak. That crazy guy. How did he even think of kidnapping anyone after becoming a demon?

‘His way of thinking is completely different from ours.’

It was so nonsensical it reminded me of a famous meme.

No matter how you looked at it, there were things you could and couldn’t do.

He was just pathetic for not being able to kidnap someone without turning into a demon.

Yet here he was, staring at me with a gaze that seemed dead set on me for all the problems he was facing.

It felt like he wanted to stab me with a knife right then and there.

Only then did I set Seria down and walked towards Diggerus.

Behind me, a magical circle flared brightly, courtesy of Seria.

‘What a solid back-up support.’

I thought uselessly as I drew my sword from my waist… and delivered a quick jab.

“Alkiné doesn’t like you. Give it up.”

That was the most effective line to jab at Diggerus.

The effect was amazing; Diggerus opened his mouth to say something but instead lunged at me.

Under normal circumstances, I would have probably had to listen to him spill his guts about what happened, why he liked Alkiné, and how he became a demon.

“If it weren’t for you, Alkiné wouldn’t have acted weird, and I wouldn’t have turned out like this!”

But maybe because I had hit his sore spot, he couldn’t control his emotions and uttered nothing but raw anger.

Perfect. I didn’t really want to hear about this guy’s sob story anyway.

So I dodged and avoided Diggerus’s attacks.

He was swinging his fists, and one punch imbued with his rage felt almost weightless as it neared me. I had faced harder punches before.

It was unfortunate, but since it wasn’t a pattern I could parry, I didn’t have much of a counter-strategy.

“Isn’t that right? Alkiné had always disliked you!”

So I decided to throw a bit of mental warfare in there.

It seemed to have struck a chord because Diggerus’s already-red face turned even redder.

Wow, at this point, he looked less like a demon and more like a trashy fox.

He was quick, but perhaps due to his emotions getting the better of him, his attacks weren’t particularly sharp, making it easily avoidable.

Just listening to his empty taunts was the hardest part.

“You damned fool! I’ll make sure to tear you apart! Then Alkiné will be mine!!”

Hey, crazy dude. Just because you tear me apart doesn’t mean you’ll have Alkiné.

Sadly, I couldn’t even say that much. At just the right moment, he unleashed a strike capable of being parried.

Clang!

Immediately, I parried. Diggerus’s furious strike was easily deflected.

Perhaps his stance had been unstable; he stumbled back, crashing right into the cage!

In the process, something seemed to activate, and the cage door swung open.

Whatever was happening, Alkiné was not the type to just stay quiet in such a situation.

She dashed out of the cage as Diggerus lunged to grab her.

But his hand never reached her.

From behind, Seria’s magic struck Diggerus’s hand away.

“…Tougher than I expected. I thought I could cut right through.”

Seria said with casual menace as she led Alkiné to safety.

Perhaps seeing Alkiné escape made Diggerus give up. He simply collapsed in front of the cage, staring blankly at us… oh, he was crying.

“Rudion. That guy is crying!”

“He’s not a person. He’s a demon.”

“Oh, right. Wow… demons cry too….”

It was somewhat fascinating to hear demons crying.

I wanted to taunt him a bit more, but I put that thought aside and decided to check on Alkiné’s condition.

When she had been in the cage, she looked weak, but now that she was out, she seemed to have regained her strength.

Taking a look at her, it seemed she had indeed been sealed in terms of her powers while inside that cage.

Now rejuvenated, she carefully looked up at me and expressed her gratitude.

“If I had been even a little late, it would have been a huge problem. Uh… thank you.”

“…You?”

“Oh, no… I said thank you! Thank you!”

She must have been really tense. She lost her cool and dropped her act.

I could understand why. Being suddenly kidnapped and having her powers sealed meant she probably felt helpless.

…

For a moment, Seria’s eyes dimmed when she saw that… but perhaps it was so fleeting that no one noticed it.

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