Extra's Survival: Raising SSS-Rank Characters Is My Only Option

Ulrich Vance sat with his hands folded and looked at nothing in particular. The expression on Steward Vess’s face was grim, and even the far watch captain looked at Encrid with worry.

The motion had failed.

But Encrid did not feel angry.

That was perhaps the strangest part of it.

He had expected disappointment, perhaps even frustration, after fourteen days of chasing votes and persuading men who had spent years learning not to be persuaded. Instead, his mind had simply begun counting again.

Nine votes.

He needed ten.

One vote.

He had spent fourteen days securing the Lord Commander, the Captain of the Far-Watch, Steward Vess, Ysolde Marr, Tolm Bree, and, unexpectedly, Wilm Trask.

But it had not been enough.

The vote he needed had belonged to a man who had never even been awake to cast it.

Encrid stared at the table.

Was this futile?

Was he wasting his time trying to save a Wall that did not want to change?

He had come here because he believed something was coming from the Great Green Forest. He had spent months gathering information, improving his position, working on solving the Wall’s problems, learning new things, and trying to understand a future that nobody else even knew existed.

Perhaps he should simply give up.

Go south.

Leave the Wall behind before it became his grave.

But then there were the quests.

And Gus.

And Rael.

The people were already tied to the choices he had made.

He could not simply walk away from them.

Encrid exhaled slowly.

There was no good answer.

There had never been one.

”Then that is the matter,” Vice-Commander Coris Danel said. ”The Council has–”

Right then, the chamber door opened.

It did not slam.

It did not swing wide.

It simply moved inward, slowly, as though whoever stood behind it was using the door itself for support.

Danel stopped speaking.

Every member of the Council turned towards the door, and when they saw the figure, everyone stood.

Encrid looked toward the doorway.

An elderly man stood there. He was barely upright.

A woman held one of his arms, supporting most of his weight, while his other hand rested on an old, neatly carved walking stick. The stick was dark with age and polished smooth where countless years of use had worn the wood beneath his palm.

His white hair was unkempt.

His face was pale.

He looked tired enough to fall asleep standing.

But his eyes were clear.

It the chief Healer of the Wall - Elder Sabin Wode.

Lord Commander Ulrich Vance moved first.

”Elder Wode.”

Wode smiled faintly.

”Sit, sit.”

Vance did not.

”How are you out of bed?”

”Poorly.”

A few of the commanders almost smiled.

Wode glanced down at himself.

”This old body is stubborn. It seems determined to remain useful for another few years yet.”

”You should still be resting.”

Wode’s smile widened slightly.

”I know. But this is not the time for resting.”

Only then did he look past Vance.

His eyes settled on Encrid.

Encrid felt several people notice the movement.

”I heard there was a matter being discussed,” Wode said.

The woman beside him said something quietly.

Wode nodded.

”My attendant has been telling me about it.”

Encrid looked at her.

He recognized her immediately.

She was the woman who had been in the healer’s quarters every time he visited.

For days, he had asked to see Elder Wode.

Every time, she had politely refused him, saying that the Elder was unconscious and he needed rest.

Encrid had eventually stopped asking.

Apparently, the woman had been speaking to Wode after all.

The old healer took a slow step into the room.

Nobody moved to help him.

Encrid noticed that too.

They were giving him the dignity of doing it himself.

It took a while, but Wode eventually reached the empty chair.

He lowered himself into it and rested both hands on his walking stick.

For several moments, he simply breathed.

Then he looked at the Vice-Commander.

”Has the matter been decided?”

Danel hesitated.

”Yes, Elder.”

”And?”

”Nine in favour. Ten against.”

Wode hummed.

He looked at Encrid again.

”I do not know the boy.”

Encrid blinked.

”I have never spoken to him.”

Wode nodded.

”Then perhaps I should ask the Council a question.”

Nobody answered.

The old man looked from one commander to another.

”Does anyone here know how many lives this boy has saved?”

There was deep silence.

Several people exchanged confused glances.

Encrid himself was no less confused.

Wode continued before anyone could answer.

”I am not aware why any of you have voted in his favour, or why some of you have voted against him.”

Nobody interrupted.

”I have not spoken to the boy. I do not know his political opinions. I do not know whether he understands command, or whether he is suited to sit among you.”

He rested both hands on the top of his walking stick.

”But I do know that I am a healer.”

His voice was quiet, but it carried easily through the chamber.

”And as one, my duty is to save people.”

His eyes moved toward Encrid.

”And over the past few weeks, people have started coming to my quarters because of him.”

Vess frowned.

”People?”

”Soldiers. Workers. Watchmen. Clerks.”

Wode’s gaze moved along the table.

”Some came because the Third Office’s clerk told them to.”

Encrid’s eyebrows rose.

”Some did not even know why they had been sent.”

A commander shifted in his seat.

Wode smiled faintly.

”They were not sick enough to feel sick.”

He looked at Encrid.

”But the boy had sent them anyway.”

Encrid said nothing.

He remembered those people.

He remembered seeing their Appraisal results.

Minor internal damage.

Early infection.

Nutritional deficiency.

Old injuries that had healed poorly.

Conditions that were not yet serious enough for the people themselves to notice.

He had simply told them to visit the healers.

That was all.

Wode leaned back.

”I examined them.”

His voice had become quieter as he looked around the table.

”I do not know how he noticed those things. I do not know what method he used. But I know that some of those people would have suffered had he not sent them to me.”

His gaze settled on Encrid again.

”The boy has remarkable insight.”

Encrid’s expression remained blank.

Wode tilted his head.

”I believe he may have opened the Black Star.”

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