Path of the Extra

Chapter 396: The Nobles’ Game

”So you’re saying you overheard Prince Lioren talking with Prince Caleus about something called their ’real plan’?”

Lumine nodded.

”But you don’t know what that plan is, do you?”

Ranni looked dubious as Lumine nodded again, his expression grave.

”I only heard it by coincidence. If I’d stayed any longer, they would’ve noticed me eavesdropping... I didn’t want to risk my life for it.”

Lumine looked away, his face tightening with something like shame.

Immediately, Ranni’s expression softened with empathy. After what Caleus had done at dinner, it was natural for everyone to feel like they were walking on thin ice—especially around him.

Ranni found no fault in Lumine’s explanation. Unlike Azriel, who had skipped nearly a month of classes back at the academy, Lumine was the diligent student who attended everything. From what she knew of his character, he wasn’t the type to lie.

Little did she know that Lumine was, in fact, a shameless liar.

At least when he had to be.

”I know it might be presumptuous for someone like me to say, but...” Lumine hesitated, then continued, voice low. ”I’m afraid of what that plan might be. We’re about to begin, and if they’re withholding information because they have other objectives... people might—”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

But it was clear what he meant.

People would die.

Ranni understood too. And the moment it sank in, she didn’t look merely unhappy.

She looked furious.

Seething.

Lumine felt sick doing this, but... he had no choice.

All these people gathered here—it was a miracle they hadn’t already started killing one another. Members of the Ten Heavenly Churches, government officials, clan representatives, guilds... all carrying different philosophies, different loyalties, different levels of power.

It was Lioren who had kept them in check.

But what if Lioren was planning something worse than meaningless slaughter?

What if it was... meaningful instead?

To what end didn’t even matter. Not right now.

There were innocents involved here—students too—and Ranni would never allow harm to come to them.

Yes... it was disgusting. Manipulating this made Lumine want to crawl back under the familiar bed he hadn’t slept in for months. He was scared.

He could also be wrong. Maybe they were overreacting.

But this late in the game, Ranni couldn’t afford to risk it—especially when she was one of the few people here who understood the Great Clans better than most.

...Death was a cost anyone of the Great Clans would gladly pay if it meant achieving their goals.

”You did well telling me, Cadet Lumine.” Ranni squeezed his shoulder and offered him a reassuring smile.

They were outside, in the garden. Tents stretched across the grounds—some occupied, others empty, others filled with sleeping silhouettes.

Yelena stood next to Lumine, her expression serious, though it didn’t hide her confusion.

She, of course, knew Lumine was lying.

She had been with him the entire time.

And he claimed this happened only a few hours ago—which couldn’t be true.

So why would Lumine lie?

She decided to stay patient.

Still, Yelena had an inkling.

The only reason Lumine would do something like this was probably because...

the system.

Since the plague, Lumine hadn’t gotten any new quests—but Yelena had noticed his absent-mindedness all day, even when he tried his best to be present with her. He’d been distracted from morning to night.

It meant he had received a quest.

And...

Yelena was almost sure it had something to do with Caleus and Lioren—because Lumine was being unusually bold.

”Damn. That kid’s probably already been sold off as a slave. I give up.”

A mocking, snickering voice came from behind them. At the sound of it, Ranni’s face darkened even further.

They turned, following her gaze—and both Lumine and Yelena’s eyes widened.

Vergil and Anastasia were approaching.

Vergil wore obsidian robes that made him look both enigmatic and strangely regal. Anastasia wore blue—bold and sharp, just like her personality.

When they reached them, Vergil’s expression held a faint apology.

”I’m sorry, Instructor. We couldn’t find the child. No matter where we looked.”

”...So not even you,” Ranni murmured.

Her face fell—dangerously close to panic and despair. She still held on to the smallest shred of hope, because Sir Henrik hadn’t returned yet, which meant he was still searching for Lia.

But...

What if he couldn’t find her either?

Could Ranni really leave an innocent child alone in this dying, broken world?

What if Azriel had gotten to her first?

What if she was already dead?

No... maybe Celestina had been right, and Azriel wouldn’t harm her.

But Ranni had learned long ago that trusting royals was foolish. Their words were too often wrapped in deception.

With a wicked grin, Anastasia looked at Lumine, amused.

”And what brings you here instead of enjoying your date?”

Normally, a remark like that would have flustered both of them. Not tonight.

Lumine hesitated, weighing whether he should lie to his faction members as well. Then he spoke, his voice serious.

”There’s a possibility Prince Lioren and Prince Caleus might betray us. I know I’m not a credible source, but—”

”Oh, that?” Anastasia cut him off casually, waving a hand. ”Yeah. I already know.”

”W-what?”

Lumine looked genuinely stunned. So did Ranni and Yelena.

Vergil—who insisted he wasn’t a seer, despite knowing things he had no business knowing—looked just as casual. If anything, he looked entertained.

Anastasia shrugged under their staring gazes.

”Yeah. So what about it? Don’t tell me you idiots actually believed Lioren’s plan was his real one?”

But the look on their faces made Anastasia mutter under her breath, ”Dumbasses,” before she bothered to explain.

”Right about now, that gullible Saintess is going to get all the attention in this kingdom. Lioren doesn’t actually give a shit about the Saintess, or about getting the remaining teeth for himself. And he doesn’t care about any of you, either.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. ”What he will do—if I’m guessing right—is make a deal with the other parties who already have the rest of the teeth.”

”...!”

”I mean, what did you idiots expect? The greediest humans in our world hear they can make a wish for whatever they want, and they’ll just let a bunch of nobodies get anywhere near it? Of course not! The first thing they do is earn everyone’s trust. Then they start eliminating the competition—slowly, one by one.”

She spoke as if laying out a simple lesson.

”If I were Lioren, the first people I’d get rid of would be the Church. They’re the only real threat to the Great Clans here. The government and the others don’t have enough influence in this scenario to matter. The moment word reaches those two kings already at the summit that the Saintess of the Moon is in the Kingdom of the Sun, every king will send more than half their men to get her—and to try to obtain one of the last teeth. Their manpower gets split. Their defenses weaken. He’ll sacrifice the Church to them. While chaos breaks out in this kingdom, he’ll have all of you—what, in about seven hours?—teleport to the Kingdom of the Moon. You’ll cause chaos there too. That’ll force another portion of their power to move, rushing to ’save’ the Moon Kingdom.”

She tilted her head.

”Lioren will hold both kingdoms hostage, essentially. And when they’re at their weakest—without men, without control, without the teeth—that’s when he strikes a deal.”

Anastasia licked her lips, her grin widening.

”Now, assuming everyone there still has their dumb pride, they’ll agree to a ceasefire. Because in exchange, they still get to keep their kingdoms. And if that wish is real, none of them will want to waste it rebuilding a ruined country from scratch.”

Her voice lowered slightly, almost pleased.

”The royals of the Great Clans—and the royals of this world—will all demand a ’fair chance’ to reach the wish.”

Her smile sharpened into something darker.

”Which means they’ll open the doors to whatever hell follows... and start a race.”

And if that happened, the competition would thin even faster.

Lioren would use anyone at his side to stab the others in the back. Caleus would do the same. Naturally, this was all Anastasia’s theory—her own interpretation.

Yet it sounded so plausible that they all looked terrified, not only by the possibility, but by the mind that had assembled it so easily.

Even Vergil looked impressed.

Of course, how they would deal with the grandmasters of this world—Anastasia didn’t know.

But with so little time, did they really have a choice?

They didn’t.

If what Anastasia was saying was true, then Liliane would be as good as dead soon.

And many more would follow.

And for what?

So that the competition between people born into higher status than Lumine could become a ”fair game.”

...It was sickening.

And it was terrifying.

But what Lumine felt more than fear was anger.

’They... they are not even thinking about ending this scenario. Instead, they would rather let dozens die so they can gain more opportunities to quench their own greed!’

”As disheartening as this is,” Yelena said suddenly, her face humorless, ”what you said is still just hypothetical, Anastasia, isn’t it?”

”Anyone could come up with the same theory you did,” she added.

That was true.

For all they knew, Anastasia might simply be trying to scare them—and knowing her personality, that possibility was uncomfortably real.

To Yelena, Lumine was a source she could trust. At the very least, he hadn’t thrown out serious accusations without grounding them in something he’d actually heard.

Because if this turned out to be true—and if anyone lived long enough to tell the story after the scenario ended—it could mean war between the Ten Heavenly Churches and the Four Great Clans.

”You’re right, Yeli.”

Yelena’s lips twitched at the sudden nickname.

And as if Anastasia wanted to irritate them even more, her smile turned colder. Crueler.

What she said next was worse than anything before it—and somehow, it was the most shocking thing they’d heard all night.

”Why would my words carry more weight than anyone else’s, you ask?” Anastasia’s grin widened.

”Well... I might’ve forgotten to mention that Lioren and I go waaaay back.”

She lifted a hand to her mouth, hiding her smile like it was too entertaining to show.

”And it’s not just him,” she added sweetly. ”I go way back with all the other heirs too.”

The others didn’t bother hiding their reactions at all.

”Some might even say we’re childhood friends.”