Path of the Extra

“I really don’t understand why we’re doing this…”

“Stop moving your head.”

As Azriel complained and Jasmine chided him, his expression darkened even more. He sat still, staring at himself in the mirror while Jasmine stood behind him, one hand on his head, the other working a pair of scissors through his hair.

“When you cut your own hair, it was so messy it honestly made me want to vomit,” she said. “Even after I fixed it, that doesn’t mean it was good. It would be a waste on your undeserving face if your hair didn’t match.”

Azriel rolled his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re going to be the next Crimson King? Perhaps starting a salon would suit you more, considering how adept you are at this.”

Jasmine narrowed her eyes, focused on his hair, and scoffed.

“Unlike you, little brother, who spent eighty percent of his time lazing around when we were young, I was diligently taking all kinds of lessons.”

“And this has its worth how exactly? Aside from saving money, which, you know… we’re clearly suffering financially.”

Suddenly she flicked the back of his head, making him wince. Before he could even turn, her hands clamped down on his head again, holding him in place. He grit his teeth.

“It is as you said. I am the next Crimson King. I am an heiress. A royal. What would become of me if I were stuck somewhere, for example in the void realm, with someone else at my side? Even in dire situations, I have to keep my image intact. I have to look proper, and never weak in front of my subordinates.”

Hearing her words, Azriel agreed with her inwardly, yet he still couldn’t help feeling a little wronged.

“You know,” he said quietly, “back when I was in the void realm and in that facility, the reason they didn’t discover my identity was partially because of my long hair.”

“Partially?”

Curious, she raised an eyebrow. Her grip loosened just enough for Azriel to turn his head slightly and cough awkwardly.

“Well… it’s not like I had a recognizable face, since I never really bothered going public…”

“Hm. I suppose that’s true.”

Azriel sighed in relief, glad to have dodged that bullet. He had no intention of making her worry by telling her how his face had been mangled back then.

“And done,” Jasmine said at last, stepping back a little.

“At least this way you’ll look decent when we go out to the festival.”

Azriel sighed.

“Still feel like it’d be better to stay in bed…”

“It’s not like we’re going out to fight. We’re going to enjoy ourselves. Enjoying things outside of rotting in bed is also a form of rest.”

“Debatable…”

Jasmine sighed at his reluctance, then seemed to remember something.

“Oh, right. It seems Nol will finally be joining us…”

Azriel’s expression turned a little strained at that, just enough for Jasmine to notice.

“I understand that Nol is upset with you because of your recent negligence toward him,” she said, “but what is your reason for not visiting him yourself until now? Why aren’t you trying to make things right with him? You know how much he looks up to you, and how much it hurts him that he feels he should be mad at you because of that. He’s trying to reach out. He’s trying to get you to reach out to him first this time. You’ve surely noticed that, so why haven’t you…?”

A hint of melancholy passed through Azriel’s eyes before he answered in an even tone.

“…It’s because he looks up to me, and is mad at me, that I won’t visit him.”

“I don’t understand. Is this your roundabout way of saying you’re afraid to visit him?”

Azriel shook his head. Jasmine looked at him through the mirror with confusion in her eyes.

“…I’m happy, actually,” he said.

“Happy that he’s mad at you…?”

He nodded, making Jasmine even more confused.

“Nol is… well, if you analyze him deeply enough, someone who could be compared to a giant baby,” Azriel said.

“He looks up to me, admires me, idolizes me, but that’s only because I’m the only person he’s really known. He was alone in [White Haven], and I was the one who showed him a new world. Because of that, he has this absurd image of me—like I’m someone incredibly amazing—when that’s not true. But… he’s starting to experience more and more new things. He’s tasting different foods, meeting different kinds of people, feeling all these new emotions. He’s starting to grow up. Him being mad at me is proof of that. And also…” Azriel’s gaze softened, just a little.

“That’s why I want him to distance himself from me. Right now, he feels most comfortable seeing me as his master. He won’t budge on that. But one day, there will come a time when he’ll want more. He’ll… he’ll want to be free. Not shackled to some stupid belief he formed. Not chained to wasting his life just trying to please me. I just want him to be free… to make his own decisions without ever being scared.”

He didn’t want Nol to feel trapped. So if it meant letting Nol stay angry at him, widening the distance between them, pushing him away and making Nol see that Azriel wasn’t the amazing person he thought he was…

Azriel was prepared to do it for Nol’s sake.

After saying all that, an awkward silence settled over the room. Azriel stared back at his own reflection in the mirror.

A second later, Jasmine flicked her finger against the back of his head.

“What was that for?!”

It hadn’t hurt him at all, but it was still annoying.

“That’s for trying to make me cry. Stop acting all mature.”

“You… I’m really starting to regret making it official that I’m supporting you as the next king…”

Jasmine crossed her arms and looked away with a smug expression.

“What’s done is done. Now suffer from your own mistakes.”

“I am… I am suffering from them right this very moment, it seems…”

Azriel let out another long sigh, then drew in a slow breath.

“Man… the mana here really is high quality, huh,” he muttered. “I can practically taste it just from breathing the air…”

Jasmine nodded with a small, satisfied smile.

“It’s incredible. Compared to our world, the mana quality here is several levels higher. It’s also one of the reasons we didn’t rush to complete this scenario, actually. It was better to take advantage of it and get stronger.”

“That was a smart choice, yeah…”

Naturally, Jasmine—whose talent was extremely high, as was the case with the other heirs—had benefitted immensely.

The higher the quality of mana in the air, the easier it was to absorb it.

The easier it was to advance their mana cores.

The easier it was to cast complex spells tied to their affinities.

It was unfortunate that Azriel hadn’t been able to benefit from it in the same way. But that wasn’t his fault.

In the Forest of Eternity, the mana in the air was being constantly sucked away, the quality thinned to almost nothing for anyone like him, Veronica, the two other cadets trapped back in that village, or anyone else stuck in the south of the Black Circle.

The farther he got from the forest, the more he could feel the quality improving.

No—he was sure it could have been even better if not for Pollux.

It was honestly a bit frightening to imagine: if Pollux hadn’t been suppressing things and everyone had still landed in this scenario… just how many more levels could they all have climbed?

“Still…” Jasmine said suddenly, breaking his thoughts.

“I do disagree with you, little brother. You truly are amazing. Just when I think I’ve pulled away from you again with my talent alone, here you are… catching up to me by doing something reckless and absolutely insane to become an Expert.”

Azriel met her eyes in the mirror and smiled.

“You’re not getting ahead of me that easily, Sister.”

His words made Jasmine smirk.

“Oh? Well, I’ve always loved a proper challenge, little brother. I wonder if you’ll be able to keep up with me.”

“Heh. Right back at you.”

They held each other’s gaze through the mirror; there was a shared, daring glint in both of their eyes.

A knock came at the door, followed by a maid’s voice, announcing that their clothes were ready.

Jasmine turned her head toward the door.

“Well then, let’s get dressed,” she said. “And just for tonight, let’s enjoy ourselves—before we finally get out of this scenario.”

Azriel looked at the side of her face, lips pressing together.

He could tell she was anxious. He himself was anxious.

They still hadn’t heard from Lucifer since summoning him. At the same time, Pollux hadn’t shown himself either. The mark Pollux had placed on him was still there…

’Key… just what key do I have…?’

Azriel didn’t know.

“Yeah,” he said quietly.

“Just for tonight.”

…He truly didn’t know.