Path of the Extra

At some point, the appointed time arrived.

When Lumine and Yelena reached the gate, Lumine saw the small group already gathered there: the Nebula prince, Caleus; the Nebula princess, Veronica; the Crimson prince, Azriel; a nameless soldier of the Nebula Clan; and… Sir Felix, a knight of the Crimson Clan.

Apparently, the knight had returned from some mission, though he would not tell Azriel what it had been because too many people present were not part of his clan.

At least, that was what Lumine assumed.

It was a small team, but a strong one.

Before Lumine fully realized it, they had already left and were making their way toward the place where Jasmine and Celestina had supposedly been taken. Even though Azriel was the only one who knew the location, he refused to explain how. He evaded the question again and again until Caleus finally got angry enough that Azriel bluntly told him to shut up.

…The two of them did not seem to want to be around each other at all.

Not that Lumine was paying much attention.

Honestly, he could barely focus.

His mind had been in chaos ever since Yelena—who even now kept throwing worried glances his way—had told him that Azriel knew everything.

How?

How did Azriel know?

If he truly did… why had he never said anything?

What was Azriel planning?

So was Azriel really evil…?

A mastermind villain planning to kill him—and perhaps the whole world?

By the time they finally stopped walking, Lumine forced himself out of the tangled mess in his head and looked toward what everyone else was staring at.

They were standing in some dark alleyway.

Behind them, out in the open street, the citizens of the kingdom were still enjoying the late hours of the festival, the smell of alcohol drifting through the night air.

“Is this some sort of joke?” Caleus muttered, his face tightening and paling with disgust.

But Azriel only shrugged, and all of them turned back to stare at what lay before them.

A manhole.

Yes…

A manhole.

The smell of dirt and sewage rising from it was already enough to make half of them nauseous.

“Sir Felix, do you see any mana fluctuations?”

Intrigued, Felix shook his head.

“Why do you ask?” he questioned, making Azriel shrug once more.

“Just wanted to make sure.”

Then, as the seal on the manhole was removed, the foul stench beneath them grew even worse.

“If they have been stuck down there for hours already, I don’t really think they would want to be rescued anymore,” Caleus remarked blandly.

Surprisingly, Yelena nodded in agreement.

’Well… I guess if I were a girl, it would hurt my pride a lot?’

Seeing the hesitant expressions around him, Azriel let out a sigh.

“If we go forward and take a right, the first back door on our right will lead to a house. There is a basement, and in that basement you will find the entrance to a tunnel. That tunnel should lead to where those two are being held.”

Everyone looked at Azriel in stunned silence.

Unbothered, he continued.

“We should split up. Sir Felix, take everyone else and assassinate anyone you deem an enemy without getting caught. Everyone here should be able to help you stay hidden.”

At that, Sir Felix narrowed his eyes at him.

“And what will you be doing while we risk our lives, Your Highness?” he asked, a hint of condescension in his voice.

Lumine sucked in a breath, and a few others did the same.

’Huh… I knew there was something strange between those two back at dinner, but… do they hate each other?’

There was no world in which it was appropriate for a knight to speak to his prince that way.

Yet despite the disrespect, Azriel only smiled.

Then, to Lumine’s absolute horror, Azriel placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Lumine and I will be going in from down here,” Azriel said. “We’ll create a distraction and give you all an opening. And don’t worry, Sir Felix—I’ll be fine, since I actually know how to get shit done.”

“…”

“…”

The howling wind almost sounded like a warning, as though nature itself was telling Lumine just how doomed he was.

The knight and prince stared at one another coldly for a moment before Felix finally took a step back and bowed.

“I see. Then I will do as you say, my prince,” he said, his tone far more respectful than before.

For just a moment, Azriel’s smile turned colder.

Then it vanished.

“Lumine…”

Yelena whispered his name and squeezed his hand for a brief second before letting go.

Lumine looked at her with worry, and she silently mouthed,

I’ll be okay.

I trust you, Lumine mouthed back.

“Be careful,” she whispered, and those words made Lumine give her a small, warm smile.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Azriel said it simply, and the others quickly began heading toward the route he had described, clearly unwilling to linger any longer near the smell rising from the manhole.

Reluctantly, Lumine turned toward Azriel.

Azriel wore a diplomatic smile.

Then he stepped aside, gestured toward the open manhole with both hands, and said,

“Ladies first.”

*****

Feeling the disgusting water splash beneath his feet, Lumine pulled one face after another of disgust and anguish as they kept walking, Azriel a step ahead of him with a lantern in hand.

’Now is my chance!’

Forcing himself not to look down and instead keeping his gaze fixed on Azriel’s back, Lumine decided to strike up a conversation.

“So… are you really sure it’s alright for you to be the distraction?”

’I mean, if I were in his position… I wouldn’t want all of them to be the ones rescuing my sister and my friend.’

After all, Azriel did not seem to like any of them, and none of them seemed particularly fond of him either. Hell, not even the knight from his own clan.

Despite Lumine’s concern, Azriel laughed.

It sounded rather sinister in the darkness of the sewer, where the only sounds were the echoes of splashing water.

“As if I would let any of them get close to my sister and Celestina.”

He shook his head, then turned it just enough to glance at Lumine as he walked. The wicked grin on Azriel’s face made Lumine shudder.

“We are not the distraction, Lumine. No… they are.”

“..!”

Lumine froze in his tracks at once, making Azriel do the same as he turned around with the lantern.

“What!? But you said that—”

“The tunnel they will take leads to another entrance, one a bit farther from the two princesses we need to rescue. Still, it is a place where they will draw plenty of attention, while the two of us rescue them instead.”

“N-No! What about Yelena!? If there are many masters, then she is too weak to even be there!”

“Relax,” Azriel said. “I already slipped a note into her hand while the rest of you weren’t looking. You do not need to worry about your girl. She is smart enough to get herself somewhere safe.”

At the words your girl, Lumine felt relief flood through him—only for his heart to leap the very next second.

His face began to heat up involuntarily.

“O-Oh… is that so…”

Coughing a few times to hide his embarrassment, Lumine continued,

“But… I think I understand why you would throw the others in first… but are you not on good terms with Sir Felix?”

Then he added,

“It’s just that, at the dinner… when you stood up, I noticed he seemed… reluctant.”

As though he did not trust Azriel.

Azriel did not look surprised by the question at all. He simply answered in a composed voice.

“I do not have a good relationship with most of the knights of the Crimson Clan. In fact, there are probably only two or three I get along with. The others… well, they do not like me, and I do not bother liking people who dislike me.”

“…”

“Knights are often extremely loyal to their clan and their king. They swear their oaths and carry a deep sense of pride in them. That is why I can never truly get along with most of them.”

Unable to hold back his curiosity, Lumine asked before even realizing what he was saying.

“Why?”

The moment the word left his mouth, he realized his mistake and shut it again.

But luckily, Azriel did not seem offended. Instead, he answered calmly.

“Because I am the unworthy prince.”

“…Ah.”

The sound escaped Lumine’s lips so softly that he barely heard it himself.

…The unworthy prince.

Right.

“There is a reason I chose you instead of any of them as well.”

Confused, Lumine watched as Azriel gestured toward a narrow ledge beside the tunnel, not wide enough to walk on comfortably but clean enough to sit.

Azriel walked over and sat down. After a moment of hesitation, Lumine did the same.

He heard Azriel let out a quiet sigh before speaking.

“I already noticed you watching me rather intently during dinner. I imagine there is something you want to ask me… or tell me?”

This time, Lumine did not hesitate.

He nodded and spoke as firmly as he could.

“Yelena told me… that you know everything.”

Azriel’s face showed no surprise.

In a way, he was a lot like Vergil, Lumine thought.

’No… maybe Vergil is more like Azriel.’

The two of them always looked as though they already knew everything.

“I see,” Azriel said simply.

The small flame of the lantern flickered—the only source of light between them, aside from the glowing white marker above Azriel’s head and the green one above Lumine’s.

“That is right,” Azriel finally admitted. “I know everything, Lumine.”

Even though it was no longer surprising, Lumine still felt his eyes widen.

But he needed to know what everything truly meant.

Azriel answered before he could even ask.

“I know about your system, and how you got it. I know about Yelena’s talent, and yours. I even know about… you being the Apostle of Life.”