The Extra Wants To Live

Chapter 208: Use Everything That Could Be Used

Carl's existence, of course, had to be concealed.

A story about Garten's mastermind and Hilfin's playmate, Carl, who was clearly trying to kill him? Does he know what's going on?

"We are."

On Rihanna's scarred face, only her lips moved heartlessly. The word "we" fell heavily.

"We can never allow this to happen. I believe Your Majesty knows this."

"I know. But I can't say something I don't know."

"..."

Lyanna eyes narrowed slightly.

In fact, she didn't think much of the existence of "humans."

The Sisterhood of Duren, led by Lyanna, had seen many terrible things happen to her, most of them at the hands of humans.

Lyanna believed that human weakness was the root of all sin and evil. That's why Lyanna really liked people who had convictions.

A person with conviction was strong.

Lyanna looked deep into Carl's unwavering eyes and could sense with refreshing clarity that she could learn nothing from the young Archduke.

Carl was the Archduke of the Empire, so he couldn't do anything like he did when he beat up Harmon, so this was it.

So, let's move on to the next story.

"This is a story I heard through the Tenai religious order in the Kingdom of Minardi."

The relationship between the Hardion Empire and the Minardi Kingdom was a bit subtle.

They didn't fight like Tumari, but they were not on good terms, and in fact, they were very fiercely secretly scheming behind the scenes.

They thought of each other as guys who smiled on the outside and said that everything was fine, but were ready to stab each other in the back at any time.

However, the relationship between the Order of Duren and the Order of Tenai was not so bad, apart from the secular monarchs. The same went for the Order of Azgoth.

"It is said that the Tenai Church has recently shown signs of a 'sect' being born. He asked about the situation of the Azgoth Church and the Duren Church."

Sect.

Lyanna said it was a "sect," not a "heresy." It drew a clear line between the Düren Church and other churches.

"We talked a lot, and soon we realized that the problems at Hilfin were not just the Empire's problem."

Lyanna remained silent for a moment, observing Carl's reaction. She thought he might react in some way, but he didn't move at all.

"The Empire actively and quickly intervened and dealt with the abnormal proliferation of monsters based on the information obtained through the mission carried out by His Excellency the Grand Duke. However, it is said that the Kingdom of Minardi was faced with a great crisis because it was one step too late."

Carl slowly leaned back on the armrest, resting his chin on it, and silently looked at Rihanna. He just changed his posture and showed absolutely no reaction.

"The kingdom is now in a state of quasi-war due to the mass outbreak of trolls, mainly in the northwest of the kingdom."

But this time, Carl also reacted.

Of course, that was a gap that Carl had intentionally shown. He squinted his eyes and put a little strength into his fingertips.

They communicated with each other and exchanged valuable information that even Archduke Carl had not yet obtained.

This meant that they had a huge information network that included Hardion, Tumaria, and Minardi.

The relationship between the religious orders was deeper and wider than Carl had thought.

"The Azgoth Church is currently in difficult circumstances, and contact is delayed. We must convey this news as soon as possible."

Now Carl knew what category the word "we" belonged to. Not just the Düren Church, not just the Düren Church and the Empire, but something much broader. It referred to "us" within the large framework called "humanity."

Lyanna now wanted to contact the Azgoth Cult as soon as possible by requesting that Carl, who had united the eastern part of the Empire, contact them.

There was no choice, because in order to go from Hardion to Tumaria, you had to go through Dabron, and even if you were a priest, Govan would not allow it.

Didn't Carl just come back from seeing how Govan reacted to the possibility of Tumaris collapsing?

'How can I use this?'

Even though he knew the noble intention of helping humanity, Carl thought so. He used everything that could be used.

Because that's just how Carl acted.

***

Carl stared out the window at the pouring rain for a moment, then opened his mouth.

"There's nothing I can do right now."

Despite Carl's words, Lyanna didn't look particularly disappointed.

"But if you don't mind taking the time, I think I can help."

But the words that followed clearly showed a reaction. Rihanna smiled faintly, not showing much emotion.

"Then let's wait."

"Give me the letter to deliver."

"I'm sorry, but I prefer to convey important matters in person, so that would be difficult."

"Then I guess I can't help you."

It meant to give specific information. To read, check, and take for yourself. Lyanna's response to Carl's stubbornness was brief and mute.

"Oh, like that."

Then he nodded and got up.

"Anyway, this is something that takes time, so I will stay in Dabron and wait for a while."

"Do so."

Gentle yet stubborn. In any case, it meant that she had no intention of giving Carl any specific information. Carl also treated it as if it was nothing and sent Lyanna away.

"..."

But instead of turning away right away, Lyanna looked down at Carl for a moment.

Her eyes were not those of the slaughter tanks of Duren, nor of the fanatics. Lyanna hesitated for a while again, then carefully and cautiously brought up the words she had been unable to say at first.

"Vire was very sad."

"..."

"I'm sorry."

Lyanna placed a hand on her chest, her steel armor clanking, and slowly lowered her head. Raindrops from the hat she wore to protect herself whenever she needed them ran down her face.

"We will be waiting in Seongan Village, so feel free to call or come to us whenever you want. The other sisters are here with us too."

It's also in Seongan Village in Dabron.

When Lyanna heard the news about Lilly, she cried and was sad, and she wanted Carl to meet Vire just once.

When Carl asked her to give a present to his mother, Vire gave Carl her silver cane necklace. She was very happy to know that Carl was thinking of his mother.

Vire had experienced many deaths, but most of them were deaths of people with whom he had no connection.

Even though they had only been together for a few days, Vire felt extremely pained by the sight of Carl smiling happily and affectionately when he remembered Lilly.

"Okay, that's it."

Lyanna gathered up the robes she had left hanging, hung them on the arm holding her staff, and went out, her armor clanking.

"..."

Carl stared out the window silently, his face like a lake, with nothing on his mind.

Looking outside at the pouring rain, he placed his hand on his chest where his mother's necklace was. It was a cold summer.

***

Although the activities of the Laurel Unit were suspended due to rain, that did not mean that they did not train. Rather, it was right to actively engage in training when you could not move like this.

"Billford is starting to look good now."

"Wouldn't it be a big deal if it doesn't even seem plausible?"

Catherine said with a slight smile in her voice as she watched Billford leading the training. She was a lot different from before, when she used to be sharp like a knife, and now she would do simple jokes like this quite often.

"Now that I've become a real knight, I should get used to commanding."

Billford was officially knighted last spring.

The knighthood was simple, as there was no atmosphere to make a big deal out of Lilly's work. It would be nice to make the once-in-a-lifetime knighthood extravagant, but Billford asked to keep it simple first.

"Are the seeds there yet?"

"Yes. I'll have to look into it some more."

Absurdly, when Billford became a knight from a seed, all three of them—Carl, Catherine, and Billford—got into trouble over the seed issue.

Billford was originally Catherine's squire, but he also served Carl in place of Harmon, who was unable to participate in the battle.

But since Billford became a knight, Catherine naturally lost her squire, Carl also lost his squire to replace Harmon in battle, and Billford was also left without a squire.

For now, they were receiving help from soldiers, but this also had its limits.

They would like to plant the seeds right away.

Even if they didn't have more than 10 people like other high-ranking noble families, shouldn't they have at least one? But the situation was not one where they could do that.

First of all, if you were a seed, you must always follow it and serve its own knight.

No one could bring in Carl, his closest aides Catherine and Billford's squire, who were secretly plotting all sorts of secret schemes without anyone knowing.

There, Carl became the Archduke and had honor and authority, but on the surface, he appeared to have no vested interests.

This went for Catherine and, sadly, for Billford, who was of common birth. Against this backdrop, it was impossible to secure a seed from a noble family.

Then what about those of commoner origin? That too had its problems.

There must certainly be talented people among the common people.

However, they could not bring in people who were in shambles because they couldn't eat properly or who couldn't read or write because they couldn't learn, and turn them into seeds.

It is virtually impossible to find a commoner with genius talent like Billford, who was sold as a child and given a good diet to hone his talents.