The Extra's Return

Step! Step! Step!

The sound of footsteps could be heard from the stairs inside the inn. The stairs connected the lower and upper floors of the inn.

From the sound of the footsteps, it indicated that the person making the footsteps had been going downstairs.

It turned out that they were as I suspected.

They were children from an orphanage.

I could see that the children from the orphanage wanted to go down the stairs to come downstairs.

Like a horde of chicks, from the top floor, they descended the stairs together with every footstep they took.

They crowded downstairs no doubt to see what was going on. What they were doing was perfectly natural considering I had made so much noise. It would be strange if they stayed hidden inside the inn after hearing the commotion outside.

Unfortunately, curiosity can kill you. Their arrival was not a good thing for them.

Their arrival triggered a signal for me to do what a villain should do.

Perhaps because they realized that the situation downstairs could be dangerous for them, most of the children immediately headed back upstairs. Only their heads poked out to look down from upstairs.

But not all children made it back upstairs. There were two children who had reached the lower floor from the upper floor first. The two children had already come down and set their feet on the lower floor.

It's okay if not all of them. I had already made up my mind that I should target the two children who had already descended to the lower floor.

They were the additional actors that I needed to include in the acting game that I had been playing right now.

It turned out to be them.

I recognized both children's faces.

One of them was a boy named Colby, while the other was the girl I helped with the recovery potion earlier, her name was Nina.

Looking at Nina's state and the way she was limping, it seemed that she had just awakened from her consciousness.

One of Colby's hands was holding Nina's hand and the other was holding Nina's waist as if he was helping Nina walk.

Did they realize that what they were doing was a romantic scene? At first glance, I could see the color of pink on both of their faces. But it didn't last long.

When they saw what was happening in front of their eyes, they immediately opened their mouths and pulled away from each other.

They finally came out of their imaginary world and saw what was causing the commotion at the inn.

They looked at me. Then looked at the surroundings.

I realized why they opened their mouths and eyes so wide.

I stood surrounded by the dust that was still flying in the air. The robe I was wearing had holes here and there... again. Wooden debris was scattered under my feet. The debris came from the front wall of the inn that had now turned into a wide open.

Due to the dust in the air, my eyes were still a little blurry from earlier. However, my eyes had found a reason to ignore the dust in the air.

All of a sudden, my eyes lit up. The reason was that my eyes were looking at Nina and Colby.

Maybe I looked like a pedophile villain who was being served a sweet dish. But the truth was I just wanted to involve them in the act I was playing.

If I didn't move quickly, Jeanne would thwart me in involving Nina and Colby.

Without waiting for Jeanne to attack me, I moved and sped up my footsteps. I managed to approach Colby and Nina in the blink of an eye.

They were startled and were about to retreat when I was suddenly in front of them.

In a lightning-fast hand movement, I immediately grabbed their necks. Both of my hands managed to grasp the neck of each of them. I managed to grasp the skin of their necks.

Unable to respond to my hands grabbing their necks, they could only give me a frightened look.

Even though they were looking at me with such pitiful gazes, I still did not let go of them. I ignored their stares and continued to grip their necks.

The two of them did try to break free from the grip of my hands, but their efforts were in vain.

In that position, I glanced at Jeanne who had stopped just before entering the inn. She was about to launch an attack on me, but stopped after seeing that I was gripping Colby and Nina's necks.

Stopping in the middle of the road, she put on an angry face mixed with fear.

"What are you doing? Let them go!"

"Why are you still asking? Isn't it obvious that I'm holding them hostage?"

"H-how dare you!"

She stammered.

It was obvious she didn't know what to do.

If she was still like she was before, she would be consumed by berserk skills. If she was consumed by berserk skills, it would be useless even if I used hostages. But she was no longer the person she was before. She will no longer be consumed by berserk skills.

That thing could be her advantage, but it could also be her disadvantage.

Because she was still holding onto her sanity, she became easier to deal with by holding people she cared about hostage.

In the midst of the tension between me and Jeanne, a stupid magician suddenly came to interrupt.

He walked over from behind Jeanne's body that I saw from inside the inn.

How dare he disturb me and Jeanne without receiving an invitation.

As if he couldn't read the atmosphere, he was suddenly raising both hands. Then he was clapping his hands incoherently.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The sound of clapping that he made was really annoying to my ears.

Even though it's good that he's only watching from the side, why does he have to come to interfere? Though I don't think I need an extra actor in the act I'm playing now.

"Sigh~"

I could only let out a long sigh.

I had to pretend to be on her side, so I kept quiet and let her do what she wanted.

Including letting her make an expression of admiration as she looked at me. Even though I knew that it was a lying expression.

"Wow. I didn't expect you to use such a cunning method. Truly worthy of being a young master's friend."

I was quite upset when I heard his words. The tone he gave off was as if he was someone who was playing me and Jeanne in the palm of his hand.

I knew about the pride of a magician in this world, so I wasn't too surprised when he acted like an asshole. Maybe that's why I was able to remain calm and unaffected by what he said.

Instead of dealing with his strange behavior, I'd rather look into the details about him.

[Skill Judgement - Activated.]

[The target's status window has opened.]

[Name: Duster Billington

Title: Magician 3rd Class, Beginner Magician.

Stats:

(Strength: F) (Endurance: F) (Agility: D) (Intelligence: B) (Magic Power: B) (Mana Core: Middle)

Magic Spell:

Fireball Level 1, Fire Blast Level 2, Fire Cyclone Level 3].

So he was not an ordinary person. Seeing as he had a surname, he was definitely not an ordinary citizen you could meet on the streets.

That answer must be correct.

Most likely, he was a distant relative of Marquis Stronghold.

Seeing as he used a fire elemental spell instead of the lightning that characterized the Marquis Stronghold's noble household, he was definitely not someone who bore the Stronghold surname.

The rest of the information was not important.

I already knew that he was an average magician from the moment I first saw him. Even so, the reason why he was still so arrogant was probably because he was a distant relative of Marquis Stronghold.

That fact is indeed quite reasonable.

Even if he was not someone who bore the name of Stronghold, that was the great noble who controlled this Burgenfield City, he would still obtain immunity or freedom in doing as he wished just by having a relationship with the Stronghold household.

The immunity he had included when he stirred up chaos in the middle of the city like this or even did something worse.

I looked at him. A frown started to form slightly on my forehead.

His gaze was also focused on me. From the look in his eyes, he was looking at me as if he was disgusted by my presence.

"What do you want to do?"

He didn't answer my question.

Maybe this was just my random guess, but, did he feel like he was being rivaled by what I was doing that he suddenly barged in and clapped like a clown?

"I think you have shown me enough proof that you are our ally. Let me end the show you put on personally."

'What nonsense is he spewing out of his mouth?'

Without waiting for a response from me, he suddenly began to prepare the magic wand in his hand.

Does he want to shoot magic again?

I was even more sure of my guess when I saw his expression which was like a child who was in a hurry to show off a new toy.

Slowly but surely, a magic circle came out in front of the wand he was holding.

"This must be your first time seeing a high-level magic spell. This is the new magic spell that makes me a 3rd Class Magician. Take a good look at it. Scorch and become dust in the air..."

As he chanted, a cyclone-shaped whirlpool of fire began to emerge from the magic circle in front of him. Indeed, the wind-like flame was small at first, but, when it comes out completely, I'm sure it will be huge.