The Extra's Odyssey

(Why so angry?)

'Shut up!'

(Hahaha..)

Hearing his laugh, I was reminded of this morning. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

He was laughing because of what happened this morning when I started wearing clothes. Because my left arm was useless, it took over dozen minutes to wear the academy uniform.

Throughout that time, this kid wasn't helping but laughing at me.

Sniff..He was laughing at a disabled person. Where are human rights?

Today was the seventh day since I woke up and a day after I was discharged. After waking up, I was able to get a lot of information from Leon and Lilith.

Apparently, I was unconscious for almost a week. Leon had woken five days before me and three days after the incident.

In that time, after going through several medical check-ups. It was diagnosed that the Nether had seeped too deep into my bones and muscles. As a result, my arm was completely disabled for life.

But this diagnosis was wrong.

My left-hand disability was because Caim's ability worsened the corruption from Nether. Though only Eth and I knew this fact.

"The number of cadets was reduced considerably."

I spoke while looking at the seats to my left and in front of me.

A lot of seats throughout the class were vacant and the cadet's complexion wasn't very good. They still had not come over the horrors they had seen that day.

It was given that a week wasn't enough to overcome their fears. But I could only shake my head at this. The frontlines were a lot more brutal. They have to mature fast or they won't survive with this mentality.

"Anyway."

I touched the desk and something magical happened.

At my touch, the entire desk changed from a steel blue color to mahogany grey.

Looking at the desk, I marveled at my newfound stigma ability.

Before anyone could notice, I pulled my finger back, and the desk reverberated to its previous steel blue color.

This was my stigma [Iridescence].

The System doesn't explain anything else about the Stigma other than its name. This was why everyone needs time to master their stigma.

Experimenting for the past few days, I found that I could change the color of objects in contact with me.

I was greatly relieved when I got to know my stigma. It wasn't combat-oriented, but at least it wasn't completely useless.

At sufficient mastery, I should be able to use it for disguise. Even now I could change my hair, eye, and skin color with a single wish.

The corner of my lips rose slightly. Truly, the stigmas were the representation of one's soul.

'If I had this ability in my previous life, infiltrating the Yakuzas would've been a lot easier.'

(They are here.)

Raising my head, I looked at the people Eth mentioned. With an annoyed look, both of them stood at the door and gazed at the class, seemingly searching for someone.

Looking at me, both of them shot a smile that didn't look like a smile walked here.

-BANG!

Lilith slammed her hands on my desk.

"Nathan, didn't YOU say YOU were going to wait for us?"

"Maybe it will rain today?"

Laughing awkwardly, I looked at the dark clouds through the windows, avoiding Lilith's eyes.

"Nathan~"

To explain what was happening, I have to tell you what happened after I woke up in the infirmary.

At that time I was happy because I could relax without fearing about my life. In this semester, only two events were dangerous.

One was the Dungeon of Trials event in which I lost my arm but was able to survive. The other was the end-semester event, which wasn't compulsory for everyone to join.

Hooray for me!

I could live for a few months in peace!

Unfortunately, the peace was short-lived.

The next day, before even the sun rose, Leon barged into my room. He was hell-bent on helping me with everything.

…That included helping me to dress myself.

I had to fight with all my might to protect my chastity!

It was more traumatizing than the Royal Demon!

Remembering those days still brought tears to my eyes. With only one arm, I was no match for this fiend. I could only swallow my pride and give up.

Fortunately, today I managed to turn Leon down by promising that I will come to class with him and Lilith.

Of course, that was a lie.

Why would I willingly go with these two idiots?

Moreover, this was probably my last day in Ward. From tomorrow, I didn't need to worry about my chastity being threatened!

"Rank 1, Susan Warner."

"Present"

Suddenly Mia was standing at the podium and doing the roll call.

Knowing that she had to go, Lilith's eyes begrudgingly altered between Mia and me.

Dragging her feet, she walked back to her seat with Leon when her feet abruptly stopped. Then, smiling, she whispered something to Leon.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

The next few seconds proved my words were correct.

"Oh, what a coincidence. We are sitting next to each other now?"

Acting clueless as I had been, Lilith turned back and spoke from the seat directly in front of me.

"Let's get along."

Leon spoke from my left.

Seeing both of them, I internally sighed.

"Rank 2169 Nathan Hunt"

"Present"

Calling my name, Mia raised her head, looked at my arm for a moment, and continued the roll calls.

"Nathan, come to my office."

Saying so, Mia left the class.

"Did you do something?"

"No"

I frowned at Leon's suspicious gaze. Somehow, I had a feeling that this guy was cooking some wrong theory in his head.

"Are you sure? The last time Miss Mia called you was when you challenged Susan."

My mouth twitched. I didn't want to challenge that monster either!

The monster had knocked the living daylights out of me in one punch! It was more depressing because, according to the novel, Strength was always Susan's lowest stat.

"Tell us what happened when you come back!"

Waving my hand in denial, I walked out of the class.

***

Looking at Nathan waving his hand in affirmation, Leon proudly smiled. Nathan was finally talking with them.

"Is it me, or did he become sassier?"

"You think so?"

Feeling Lilith's unsatisfaction Leon didn't understand why Lilith thought so. Didn't Nathan acting more unreservedly around them meant that he was opening himself to them?

Isabell had told them about Nathan and her past. Now, Lilith and Leon understood why Nathan tries to push everyone away from him.

Listening to Isabell's story, they understood that what happened wasn't Nathan's fault. But because of his past, Nathan had built a wall around his heart to keep everyone away. He no longer wanted to be with anyone.

Leon had gone through something similar. He also blamed himself for what happened in the past. At that time, Leon always dreamed of killing himself.

But unlike him, Nathan remained standing on his two feet and was walking forward. Leon respected Nathan for not giving up. This was why he wanted to help Nathan walk on a better path.

For Lilith, her motive in helping Nathan was much simpler. It was her dad's words.

"A true hero isn't someone who fights, but someone who protects."

Lilith always kept these words close to her heart. She lived with those words as her belief.

But it was the Ezra Square Incident that opened her eyes. Her belief was flimsical at best.

Back when she needed to protect, she couldn't even move while Nathan almost died to protect the civilians from the terrorist.

Nathan was weak and untalented, but he was a true hero. This was the first time Lith someone admired someone around her age.

This was why Lilith had decided that she was going to help Nathan overcome the wall in his heart. She didn't want to see a hero breaking from the inside.

But reality is often disappointing.

Nathan was hell-bent on staying away from her! How can someone be immune to her charms?!

Lilith gritted her teeth as she thought back to how Nathan hung them away this morning. He was too uncooperating.

Glaring at Nathan's back for a few seconds, as he walked away, Lilith snorted.

"Let's see if you can keep avoiding me."

"I am already getting close to Nathan."

Seeing Leon's smug face irked Lilith. Why was he able to talk to Nathan and not her?

Now that she thinks about it, does Leon meet Nathan separately?

"When did you get close to him?"

Upon hearing the answer Leon proudly gave, Lilith's brain froze.

"Nathan asked it to keep a secret. I think he is shy that we are doing it? But it's getting better! Now he lets me remove his clothes peacefully!"

"Se..secret? Doesn't want to admit? R..remove his clothes?"

Lilith's cheeks reddened as her thoughts went on.

"I..I see"

"Yup. We do it (helping Nathan change) every morning."

She finally understood why her charms didn't work on Nathan.

"Lilith, are you okay?"

Lilith hurriedly shook her head up and down.

"K..keep it up."

"Yes, I plan on doing it even if I have to force Nathan!"

"I..I didn't think you were the aggressive type."

"Aggressive type?"

Leon cluelessly looked at Lilith, who was turning red like a tomato and mumbling incomprehensible things.