Reincarnated as a Doomed Extra

After Jared gave me more advice and requests, which could all be summed up in one simple sentence, "Take care of yourselves," I approached the carriage hesitantly.

In fact, I didn't know if it was good for me to enter now. Julius was probably giving a brief explanation of taking Solon now, so I decided to wait outside for a bit.

While I was waiting outside, I looked at the carriage. Specifically, at the blood that stained it.

There were many thoughts running through my head now because of this blood alone.

From a distance, this blood looked like any other blood that had taken its time and started to clot, but among this blood splatter, there was very dark blood, blacker than even the clotted blood.

I wiped the blood with my hand to get a better look at it, and it was as I expected.

Demon blood…

My frown deepened.

But how?

I couldn't think of what went wrong that caused the two to clash in this way.

The demon was supposed to come here without problems, and the knights were supposed to take Solon after the disaster and when he was already in the capital.

Was it the timing?

Was Solon's awakening too early, causing the Holy Church of Light to move at the same time the demon was near us, causing them to meet?

This was the only logical answer I could think of, to be honest.

And back to the demon, what was its goal in killing all these people here?

No, seriously. From a player's perspective, I could say that it was for the sake of developing Solon's character, but from my perspective as a person in this world now, the whole thing seemed very confusing and without purpose. Not to mention that it left Solon alive after killing everyone.

As if everything was written in advance…

"Selas. Would you please enter the carriage?"

I heard Solon's needy voice calling me from inside the carriage, which made me quickly release a stream of water to wash my hand of the blood.

'I just hope Julius didn't tell Solon too much at this early stage.' With this thought, I pulled the heavy carriage door to the side and entered.

✦

Unlike the bloody exterior of the carriage, the interior was beautifully furnished, and its space was large enough to accommodate more than ten people.

Perhaps the scattering of some tools and items was the only thing that indicated what I expected had happened to them on their way here.

Seats with tables were placed near both windows on the sides of the carriage, and there were comfortable double beds behind them.

'How rich…'

After I entered, I saw Julius and Solon sitting on the seats near the window, so I headed toward them and sat next to Solon quietly.

"Are you okay?" I placed my hand on Solon's shoulder. He looked pale and visibly tense.

The silence was suffocating, so I decided to break it. "Um, so, will I get an explanation of the situation? You can't just come and decide to take my little brother just like that, can you?" I looked at Julius coldly.

From the look on his face, it seemed like he was trying to fabricate a story to tell me.

'This NPC…'

Solon intervened, trying to ease the tension.

"Selas, Mr. Julius has nothing to do with this. He's just forced to take me."

"Forced to do what exactly?" I tilted my head, still looking at Julius, searching for the answer I already knew.

But of course, he wouldn't take Solon if he didn't say exactly what he wanted from coming here. I had to play the role of the tough older brother.

After a short period of constant staring, Julius let out a tired sigh before facing me head-on.

"I really apologize for surprising you in this way. You have every right to be skeptical of my motive here."

He continued in a tone begging for understanding.

"First, let me say this, I have no intention of causing any kind of harm to your brother. On the contrary, I came here at the request of our holy voice, our Saintess, to secure him."

"You're saying the same thing you said earlier. What do we have to do with your church? And oh, we're not your devout followers. Just saying," I spoke coldly.

Julius frowned.

"S-Selas."

Solon grabbed my shoulder, urging me not to say more. He was acting like a typical villager in front of a noble now, which bothered me somewhat. I hoped that Julius wouldn't tell him too much, but at the same time, I hoped he would instill some confidence in him.

I shrugged and spoke as calmly as possible, "Let's just clarify something. If you want to take us with you, you'll have to convince me, so go ahead and try."

Julius's frown disappeared and was replaced by curiosity. "Selas, right? I think I made it clear that I only want Solon, didn't I make myself clear?"

'Is he stupid?'

I shook my head in disbelief.

"And why do you think I'd give you my brother just because you came and said, 'Our holy voice has requested his presence'? Are you, by any chance, lacking in social norms and standards, or are you just fools?"

It happened in just a moment.

I looked down before returning my gaze to Julius, unfazed by the sword that was already touching my neck.

His eyes were wrestling between his loyalty to his church and his desire to silence me.

"I don't know what your problem is exactly, but I won't allow you to insult the church in any way in my presence."

I smiled in response. I knew he wouldn't harm me after all.

Honestly, we could have gotten past this a while ago and left, but I didn't want to give them the idea that they had any kind of control they thought they had over my brother.

To come here and just take him?

Over my dead body.

In the game, Solon followed the orders of the Holy Church of Light like a fool, but with me here, I wouldn't allow that to be repeated, even if it required me to be on their bad side.

"Enough!"

Suddenly, Solon slammed his hands on the table forcefully, dissipating the tension. Julius returned his sword to its sheath while I lightly rubbed my neck.

"First, what do you mean by me being 'the chosen hero'?" Solon asked in a tone that wouldn't accept refusal as an answer.

"Th-that…" Julius hesitated, looking at me, which made me roll my eyes at his exaggeration of the matter.

"Just speak!" Solon ordered.

It seems he finally noticed the weight of his words and their importance… That's good.

After that, Julius gave in and started explaining things from the beginning of their journey here.

✦

"Demons?"

Julius responded to Solon's question.

"Yes. At least, that's the name we gave them given their forms. No one really knows what they are…"

After a long and vague explanation about Solon's prophecy and how he was installed as a hero, we finally reached this point. Although it was fun to see Solon's facial expressions during that, my patience had run out.

Julius led us out of the carriage to take a look at the blackened blood to prove what he was saying. He also explained that he was accompanied by three knights, but they were killed by the demon they encountered along the way here.

After destroying the demon's core, its body shattered and turned to ash, and all that remained was its blood.

'I guess that's good…'

Only unnamed demons would leave no trace of them except their blood.

I looked at Solon, who seemed to be facing a great psychological dilemma. I didn't blame him, honestly. After all, death was close to everyone without them even realizing it.

I think he's thinking that if it weren't for Julius, everyone would have died by now, including me…

Julius placed his hand on Solon's shoulder. "Solon, if you really want to protect those you care about, I advise you to return to the capital with me. The church won't refuse to provide protection for villages this close to the capital."

Realizing his weakness, Solon clenched his fists until his skin turned white, and then he looked at me.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's head to the capital." I spoke, shrugging lightly, which left both of them speechless.

"…"

"…"

I think I've proven that they won't get what they want easily when I forced a Holy Knight to explain himself from the beginning to convince us to go.

"L-let's go."

After moments, Julius came out of his daze and Solon followed him into the carriage.

Solon took one of the lower beds on the right side while Julius went to the front and was about to move the carriage.

I went to the upper bed on the left side and stretched out on it lazily, waiting for our departure. I didn't take any of our belongings in the house with us because I knew the church would take care of all that, and even if they didn't, I would force them in any way I could.

I opened my eyes when I noticed the weight of the gaze Julius was giving me.

"What?" I asked.

"I'll move the carriage now…" he said, looking at me skeptically, probably surprised that I let things go his way.

"Oh, of course," I spoke indifferently, enjoying his reaction.

And although he was still skeptical, he moved the carriage and started driving it on the specific dirt road. Caravans came from time to time targeting our village and neighboring villages in trade, which created this road naturally.

I glanced at Solon and felt a little guilty for not caring about the others in the village and their death as much as he did. In fact, Jared was probably the only one I would have cared about, and overall, I was glad that everything went well.

After that, I stretched out, listening to the sound of the wheels creaking.