I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

Time heals all wounds, or so they say.

As the tension that seemed eternal finally started to fade away, the silence became even more uncomfortable.

At that moment, Alkiné timidly called my name.

“…Rudion.”

“Yes, President.”

“Can I speak comfortably when it’s just the two of us?”

“You already are.”

“Okay, I’ll go with that.”

…Wait, is she seriously bringing this up now?

Thanks to that, the awkwardness, which had just barely started to lighten, thickened once more.

But knowing it would be impossible to just sit here, I decided to change the topic before the conversation came to a complete stop.

“By the way, did you come alone, President? Where’s Seria?”

“…So you’re looking for another girl in front of someone who confessed their feelings for you? Impressive.”

“What? No.”

“Just kidding. Seria probably went back first.”

Looks like it wasn’t just a joke. Her eyes seemed dead a moment ago.

Seria, did you really agree to this? Did you truly mean it? It’s not blackmail, right?

Alkiné isn’t a person to threaten anyone, and Seria certainly isn’t the type to cave to threats… Ugh, I really can’t figure this out. I wasn’t prepared for this situation at all…

Well, forgetting about that for now, it was at least a good sign that Alkiné felt comfortable enough to drop the act.

Knowing her real personality and that her speech was a concept, her usual tone had always been a burden on me.

Isn’t it funny? A person who worries about which stuffed animal to sleep with at night insists on using an elder’s tone in front of others. There aren’t many things more comical than that.

Of course, it’s not weird due to the social image she maintains, but the problem is I know her too well.

Whenever I see her say “I understand,” “I get it,” or “I’ll think about it,” all I can picture is Alkiné in bunny pajamas hugging a teddy bear… It’s quite a struggle to hide my expression every time.

So her relaxed tone was a very welcome change.

Though since she said it was only when we’re alone, it seemed she planned to continue the act in front of others. But the student council, having been through a lot, wasn’t really gathering unless it was for Rift raids.

So the frequency with which I hear her acting tone would surely decrease… Wait a minute, maybe not?

“Will you talk comfortably in front of Seria too?”

“…Stop making me repeat what I just said.”

“Oh no, sorry about that.”

“You get it. In front of Seria, hmm… I guess I’ll try talking comfortably.”

Sounds fun. Alkiné certainly said that.

I don’t know what she finds amusing… but for some reason, I can’t shake off this uneasy feeling.

At least it seems she’ll talk freely even next to Seria, so maybe that’s a good thing?

Lost in my thoughts, Alkiné casually changed the topic.

“So, what do you think? Is it awkward for me to talk like this?”

“Not at all. I guess practice with your stuffed animals is paying off.”

“Right… Wait. How do you know that?”

“Ah.”

Maybe the lighter tone made me a bit too relaxed because I ended up teasing her without thinking.

If I was just teasing, it wouldn’t have mattered, but the fact I was teasing about her hidden, nobody-knows-secret made it complicated.

For sure, if she’s talking to stuffed animals because there’s no one to converse with normally, that’s quite pitiful.

“Answer me, Rudion. How do you know that?”

Having made a similar mistake with Seria before, I knew that stammering here would be pointless. I had to go ahead and confront it.

I declared proudly, “I actually know the President’s secret.”

“…How much do you know?”

“Just that every night you pick a few stuffed animals and think, ‘Which one should I hug tonight?’ but end up hugging two or three at once? That much?”

“W-Why do you know that in so much detail?!”

Alkiné, who seemed to want to argue, lost her sharpness the moment her secret was laid bare.

“Y-You… So you know why I usually speak like this too?”

“…I’m sorry, President. I wasn’t trying to pretend not to know.”

“Ugh…!”

In the end, she couldn’t bear the shame and started swinging her fists.

I’m sorry, President. If this were Seria, I’d definitely want to take the hit. But if I get hit by you, I’m really dead.

“Don’t dodge! Don’t you dare dodge!!”

I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!

After about 80 dodges, she finally stopped swinging her fists, taking a few deep breaths as she gradually calmed down.

But what came next was simply spectacular.

“I’ll give you one of the dolls I make next time. Keep it by your side while you sleep.”

“…Suddenly, huh?”

She seems calm despite the fact that I just uncovered her secret.

Curious about why she was so composed after being exposed, I asked if she was no longer embarrassed, and she averted her gaze slightly to respond.

“I am embarrassed. I’m embarrassed, but… strangely, I feel happy that you know me so well, even though I don’t know how you found out.”

Wow. Do you have the ability to drive someone crazy just by talking? Did you practice that with your dolls too?

Whatever the case, I’ll have to pretend I didn’t hear that. It’s starting to make me feel embarrassed too.

Although I wasted some time pondering this, I really had to get to work.

Time to write the report. I had already postponed it long enough, and I couldn’t afford to delay any longer.

“Should we finish what we were going to do? Here, sit down. You’ll be writing it?”

She seemed to be aware of it and took the initiative before I could even say it.

In the end, I couldn’t pass the writing off to her, but what can I do?

Writing a report isn’t particularly difficult. It’s just about writing what actually happened.

Of course, after I got involved, there were all sorts of manipulations in the report… but that’s a different story— the conclusion would stay the same, so it wouldn’t matter much.

Anyway, the report writing is usually bothersome yet straightforward, but this time, it was tougher than usual.

Naturally. What exactly did we go through in this Rift?

The long-lost Diggerus appeared as a Demon, attempted to kidnap and harm Alkiné, and eventually, we ended up handling that very same Diggerus.

Just the fact that a new type of synthetic Rift showed up felt trivial in comparison.

So… even if I could manage it all at the Academy, Diggerus’s family would definitely be in an uproar.

“If this word gets out, it’ll be chaos.”

Though I said it casually, that wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

From whether he really became a Demon to why we killed him, there would be all sorts of speculative accusations flying around, from them saying we just framed a perfectly fine person as a Demon to hide our crime.

And it’s Diggerus’s family, after all! Where do you think he got his temperament from?

A lot about personality comes down to family traits, and Diggerus isn’t exempt.

Seeing Alkiné, who seemed to be on the same page as I was, let out a deep sigh.

“Yeah, I guess so. Hah… Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Do you want tea or something?”

“…How did you know… No, yes, please.”

I thought she could just drink her own, but she had this strange habit of needing to drink tea made by someone else to calm down.

Knowing that, I just complied without asking further.

I quietly stepped out of her personal workroom, heading to the shelf lined with tea leaves.

I set a kettle of water on the fire and took a moment to look at the tea leaves.

Let’s see, these are tea leaves from the north.

They’re tough enough to grow in that cold while retaining a soft taste… Anyway, they’re her favorite.

I tried it once before, and it had this strange taste like slightly bitter milk watered down, so it’s not really to my liking.

Soon, the water began to boil, and I prepared it in her favorite ratio.

I carried it back to Alkiné’s workspace.

“Here you go.”

“Yup, thanks.”

She took a sip of the tea and looked at me with a surprised expression.

“…Did I ever teach you how to brew this?”

“Nope.”

“Is this included in your knowledge of my secrets?”

“I suppose so?”

“You can’t tell me how you know, can you?”

“…Guess not.”

The discussion about the settings book was also a secret I kept from Seria.

It’s not that Seria isn’t curious about anything, but I planned to hide the fact that this world was a game, no matter what.

After all, revealing they’re just game characters is a bit too much, isn’t it?

Who knows how they’d react, but whatever happens, there’s no need to burden them with such unsettling information.

Alkiné seemed to think for a moment before asking me one more question.

“Wait a minute. So, do you know all my food preferences too?”

“Yes.”

“…I knew it. It was strange how well you catered to my tastes. So you already knew?”

“Huh? What happened?”

“Don’t you remember? When you came with Seria last time, you lost a bet and went off to buy dessert all by yourself.”

Ah, now I remember!

That was when Seria and I used to hang out at the student council regularly. That day, I wanted to cheer up a clearly stressed-out Alkiné, so I decided to get her something sweet.

Of course, it was Seria’s suggestion to bet, and she was the one manipulating the outcome just to send me on an errand… but still.

Since I was going to buy something anyway, I thought I’d get her something she liked.

That incident seemed to be a bit of a mystery for Alkiné.

“Now I get it.”

She downed the tea from her cup in one go, sighing again, but this time there was relief in her voice.

“I guess it’s because you uncovered my secret. Suddenly, I’m not scared of anything anymore. Rudion, just write the report like it happened.”

“Will it seriously just be that?”

“Yeah, I’ll take responsibility. You know who my father is.”

“The great Black Wolf of the North, right?”

“My dad doesn’t like being called that much.”

“Oh.”

I didn’t know that.

“You only know about me, huh?”

Well, since the setting book focuses more on the main characters, it makes sense, doesn’t it?

Of course, Alkiné’s father is one of the strongest in the universe, but he wasn’t really active in the story itself.

But however it was perceived, she seemed to have her spirits lifted quite a bit.

“Anyway, just write it down. No need to worry about any problems. Who do you think I am?”

She looked in a good mood, so I didn’t want to jinx it and followed her instructions.

After all, even though the Diggerus family might put up a fight, they were just earls at the end of the day—what can they do?

They wouldn’t have the capability to go head-to-head with the Academy, and if they turned their eyes to an easy target, that target would be the Duke’s Daughter? They’d swallow their words.

My prediction was nearly spot on.

But there was one thing I overlooked…

“That commoner can’t be trusted! Immediately detain him for questioning!”

Unlike Alkiné, the Duke’s Daughter, I was just a commoner.

Hehe, I find it refreshing since I’ve never experienced being treated like this.

But don’t worry. Alkiné, the Duke’s Daughter and Student Council President, said she’d take care of it.

I figured she’d foresee and prepare for a situation like this, anyway.

When I glanced at Alkiné, who had that thoughtful look on her face… Oh, she doesn’t seem at all ready for this.

With an expression of disbelief, she stared at me blankly.

I asked her, “Aren’t you telling me not to worry?”

“…I was in no state of mind when I said that. You remember how the mood was yesterday.”

True. We were unable to even meet each other’s gaze without it feeling awkward.

“Still, come on. Is it okay to just let them drag me like this?”

“I trusted you… but you’ve betrayed my trust now…”

“Don’t say that. I really feel hurt by that.”

“…Wait a minute, Alkiné. What happened to your tone?”

In the end, I was identified as the easiest target and was dragged away by them.

What’s really funny is that Seria doesn’t seem to have thought of how to respond in this situation. Instead, she was solely interested in Alkiné’s tone.

“Is my tone really that important right now? Rudion is getting captured!”

“Didn’t he get captured because he has something planned? If that’s not the case, Rudion wouldn’t just get captured so easily.”

“…Is that so? I’m really sorry then.”

“Seriously, what’s up with your tone?”

…Now that I think about it, it’s just that she knows me too well.

It’s a bit scary at this point.

“Just help me out, will you…?”

“When do you want me to help?”

“Today is the last day of the holiday, right? I still have to go to class tomorrow.”

“Got it. See you in a bit.”

Just before being dragged away, we exchanged that last line of conversation, and I was shoved into a corner of a carriage with my hands and feet bound.

This treatment as a commoner is a bit much.

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