The Extra Wants To Live

The darkest hour, just before sunrise. A near-infinite wilderness stretched to the ends of the distant horizon.

The place was so crowded with people that there was no room to even step.

The countless waves of existence stretched towards only one thing, shouting out one person's name.

But Carl couldn't understand it.

There was only one master of all things, looking down on everything in the world. In his deeply sunken eyes, all-embracing love quietly overflowed.

The sun rose slowly.

From across that distant wilderness, eyes of blazing fire looked at him as if rising to greet him. He stared straight ahead at the spreading light, holding a rough, worn-out cane in his hand.

He slowly turned his head and met Carl's eyes.

Likewise, he smiled softly as he said a name Carl could not understand.

Carl couldn't even make out the outline of his face, but he could clearly feel that he was looking at him and smiling.

Even the sun was only a gleam that decorated him.

He opened his mouth with his back to the dawn and said something, in a voice so wistful that it made Carl miss it.

It was clearly a being that anyone could feel was God the moment they encountered it.

***

Carl staggered to his feet after falling into a pool of blood.

"Carl! Follow your master!"

"No…."

Garten's scream was heard, followed by Camilla's bewildered voice.

Carl looked for Garten and Camilla with his blurry vision. Then he started limping along on his unmoving foot. Garten's face lit up with victory.

Purbuck!

However, when Carl, who had gotten closer, threw all the messy daggers he was holding in his hand and pierced his neck, Garten's face distorted.

"Why haven't you killed him yet?"

Carl spoke calmly and looked at Camilla. Camilla's eyes widened in surprise. It seemed a little out of place, but also very...

"How!"

As Garten screamed, pulling out his dagger, Camilla's eyes sank down. She turned around in one breath and swung her Mana Blade.

Woohoo!

Too flustered to react, Garten was struck by Camilla's Mana Blade, which cleanly cut off his neck. Garten didn't know exactly what Dureniodon was, or how its powers worked.

At the same time, he had no doubt that Dureniodon would be able to completely control Carl's mind.

The price of believing what he don't know is painful.

It was strange that Carl, who entrusted his life to Camilla, not knowing that she existed or that she would protect him, was so wonderfully rewarded, trusting only his intuition.

Thud!

Garten's severed head sank into a pool of blood. The light of the Mana Blade went out, and in the darkened basement, only Carl's heavy breathing lingered.

"Later."

"..."

Carl whispered softly. The sound of running footsteps was heard.

The answer never came back this time either. But Carl could sense that Camilla had heard him clearly and that she would come to him when he was alone.

Bang!

"Lord Carl!"

"Your Highness!"

A crashing sound was heard from upstairs, and a voice called for Carl.

"It's underground!"

Carl shouted loudly, and soon those who had jumped down into the cellar lit up the darkness with torches.

"Oh my god…."

A battered Carl stood alone in a basement filled with blood, sighing as he struggled to take off his distorted helmet.

It was just a little bit of an injury.

Carl had the power to recover, and if he got treatment from Milton, he would get completely better. But there was nothing to be done about the armor becoming completely unusable.

'my mother will be worried…'

Even if he changed into a clean suit of armor, Lilly would notice it. And then she would realize that the fight was so heated that he had to throw away his armor and that Carl was badly injured.

Would she cry loudly again? He didn't want to worry his mother, but he didn't know what to do.

That was the first thing that came to Carl's mind after the battle, despite the many complex thoughts and post-battle processing that had been troubling him.

***

Milton's mana had long since run out. Treatment was given first to those in poor condition by distributing potions as much as possible.

As expected, Carl, as always, delayed treatment as long as possible.

This was because most wounds would heal naturally over time, and even serious wounds would not get worse.

The only inconvenience was the cursed, damaged eyes and crushed right foot.

To the Sisters of Duren and Jaren, who were unaware of such circumstances, Carl's giving up the potion to the knights and soldiers seemed quite...

"It's too much to call it mercy or generosity. Could it be that his head is crazy?"

"Shh, you have to speak so they can't hear, Vire."

Among the sisters, the one who was particularly small and with Lyanna, Vire, spoke too loudly. Lyanna smiled a little awkwardly and tried to console her.

Hearing all that, Carl felt slightly, just slightly uncomfortable with being treated like a lunatic by those crazy fanatics.

Above all, Carl was not happy that 16 of his Laurel regiment's men had been killed and 6 had been left permanently disabled.

The flesh golem was so powerful that there were more deaths than injuries, as they died instantly with a single blow.

'We lost 22 of our best soldiers who could be treated like hands and feet. It's a bigger loss than we thought.'

Carl could add as many soldiers as he wanted.

However, it was a painful loss to have lost nearly half of the imperial soldiers who had fought in countless battles together over the past year and moved as they please.

It was fortunate that Catherine and Billford only suffered recoverable injuries.

"Vire, please help the Grand Duke."

"Yes, Lyanna."

Lyanna bent down and spoke affectionately to Vire, and Vire nodded without saying a word and approached Carl, helping him up.

Since Vire had a small body that barely reached Carl's chest, her position was more like an armrest than a support.

"The scriptures of the heresy have been torn to pieces. They should be over there. And I have cut off the head of the heretic leader, Garten. Check it out."

Carl limped along, his hand on Vire's small but sturdy shoulder, and pointed to the pool of blood whose level was slowly decreasing.

At those words, the Sisters of Duren, who were in relatively good condition, searched through the pool of blood.

"You are truly amazing."

Vire looked up at Carl and said. Carl realized that she was not just small in stature, but actually a young girl. Her soft cheeks and round skin, where baby fat had not yet disappeared, were covered in rough, cruel scars.

"..."

That didn't mean Carl felt any pity