Limited Extra Time - Chapter 100
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Doomed Extra’s Time
A Long Romance Fantasy Novel by Ja Eun-hyang
The Doomed Extra’s Time
Chapter 100
She stepped out of Leopold Manor, standing beside Periel Kalos.
“Herta!”
Below, Herta’s ears perked up and fluttered with annoyance as she lay sprawled with her arms crossed.
As Carina Leopold approached, Herta lifted her head and gazed at her. There was no desperate bloodlust in those golden eyes like before.
“Grrrr.”
Herta let out a low rumble and lowered her body completely.
She spread her limbs wide as if to say, “Come ride me.” So she really was doing well, just as I’d heard.
“Welcome, Miss.”
“Oh, Sir Goreden.”
Carina Leopold’s eyes widened in surprise, then she smiled warmly.
I had assumed he would have followed Millaiyen, given how formidable he was.
‘I heard he was with the Support Unit, though…’
—— Page 2 ——
A question arose in my mind.
“I received separate orders from His Excellency. I am to move with the Support Unit and rejoin you afterward.”
“…Sir Goreden?”
“Yes, is there a problem?”
“No, of course Millaiyen would have ordered it, but… it seemed like you might have wanted to join the Advance Party. Your skills were extraordinarily impressive.”
Goreden’s eyes widened slightly before returning to their normal state.
A brief flicker of emotion. Goreden shook his head.
“It’s fine. Someone must escort the Support Unit.”
Indeed, there were quite a number of Knights and Soldiers surrounding Goreden. His words seemed to hold truth. Still, it felt inconvenient to leave such a capable knight behind.
“If Sir Goreden is content, then that’s fortunate.”
“In any case, we’ve prepared a carriage, but were you planning to ride in it, or…?”
“Ah…”
I pondered for a moment.
Herta, sensing the atmosphere, stretched out all four limbs and lay flat on the ground.
The heavy sound drew everyone’s attention to Herta. She had positioned herself to be easily mounted, just like before.
“Herta?”
“Grrrr!”
Goreden glanced briefly at Herta.
I let out a soft laugh, gently stroking Herta’s brow. My strength had faded. I still wondered why Herta remained on this land.
“It seems she’s telling me to ride her. I’ll just go with Herta then.”
“It’s dangerous, so please climb up carefully.”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.”
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Carina Leopold carefully stepped onto the prone Herta’s legs and hoisted herself onto her back.
Goreden observed Carina settling into position, then locked eyes with Herta.
“Don’t move too quickly, and don’t engage in combat while carrying the young lady.”
Their gazes collided in the empty air—Goreden’s and Herta’s eyes meeting with palpable intensity. Herta snorted sharply through her nostrils and whipped her head away.
Goreden turned without protest and surveyed what needed to be gathered.
Carina leaned forward, bringing her face close to Herta’s ear.
“Herta, I’m curious about something.”
At the whispered words, Herta’s ears fluttered—ticklish from the proximity.
Carina realized her mistake and pulled her head back slightly.
“You came from a painting I drew.”
“Growl.”
“And back then, you said you wanted to kill something… to possess something, didn’t you?”
I couldn’t quite discern whose voice had resonated in my mind, but given the circumstances, it had to be Herta’s.
An ordinary human couldn’t possibly communicate telepathically with me.
More than anything, that voice—drenched in murderous intent—was unmistakably hers. Herta turned her head with deliberate slowness, rolling her eyes to regard me.
“I’m glad you’re alive, but I’m curious—how is it that you can be alive?”
– Master… life…
My body trembled involuntarily.
Again, it felt as though someone was speaking inside my mind. I shuddered and carefully looked down at Herta.
Anyone could see that it was Herta who had just spoken.
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“Herta…?”
Herta’s ears fluttered once more, as if answering my call.
Carina Leopold’s eyes widened. So it really was Herta. She swallowed hard.
– Instead, she consumed it.
She consumed my life in its place?
She ate my life? Carina Leopold’s brow furrowed deeply.
‘Master, life, instead, consumed?’
She consumed something in place of my life.
Carina Leopold’s eyes widened. The price of the miracle was her life.
She consumed something instead of that?
Carina Leopold swallowed.
“You consumed something to take the place of my life?”
“Krung.”
A low growl sounded like an answer. Carina Leopold nodded.
So there exists something that can substitute for a Magical Beast’s life?
Or can consuming a Magical Beast substitute for one’s own life?
‘…Now that I think about it, she seemed to be searching for something back then too.’
She said there was nothing, yet devoured another Magical Beast. Carina Leopold’s eyes narrowed as she recalled the image of Herta tearing through its entrails.
“By any chance, what is that?”
– Core.
What is a core?
I could ask Millaiyen and he would tell me.
After a moment of deliberation, Carina Leopold exhaled a deep sigh.
Herta seemed unable to speak at length. Her words were fragmented, making it considerably difficult to understand.
After pondering, Carina Leopold nodded to herself. I could simply ask Millaiyen what a Magical Beast’s core was.
She carefully adjusted the bracelet adorning her wrist. As her fingers brushed against its solid form, a smile blossomed naturally across her lips.
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“We shall depart now.”
“Ah, very well.”
Following Goreden’s orders, the Support Unit finished their preparations and set out.
Crash—!
From the forest’s edge, Millaiyen immediately rushed toward a Magical Beast and cut it down.
The heavy head fell to the ground with a dull thud. The forest held a space they always used as their encampment, and clearing it was the Advance Party’s first task.
“Sir, there appear to be no more Magical Beasts in the vicinity.”
“Clean it up.”
Millaiyen spoke as he lowered his sword at an angle.
The blade’s tip touched the forest floor. The surroundings were a mess of corpses and blood. Millaiyen released a long breath.
“Check if Haron is present.”
“Yes.”
The Knights moved swiftly. Millaiyen stood against a tree with his arms crossed, his sword sheathed at his side.
Once they lit a fire and signs of human presence emerged, the Magical Beasts would not easily breach this location.
They had also installed various traps around the encampment. The traps served a singular purpose: buying time.
A means to delay long enough for the Knights to detect intruders before they reached this far.
“Haron is not among those we’ve captured.”
“Dispose of them discreetly deeper in the forest.”
Millaiyen spoke with a sigh. The surroundings, drenched in blood, filled me with an inexplicable melancholy.
“Clean up all the blood.”
“Sir? How are we to clean up all this blood?”
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“What if the Support Unit notices?”
“No, well… it’s not like this is our first time. The Support Unit won’t be—ugh!”
With a sharp crack, the Knight’s head snapped forward as he voiced his complaint. He quickly lifted his head, rubbing the back of his skull.
“Why did you hit me?!”
“Shut up and do it. Oblivious fool.”
Why Millaiyen acted this way was painfully obvious.
Most of the Knights had already caught on.
Why he, who rarely spoke of such things, was behaving this way. Only this tactless idiot remained ignorant.
“…Ah, why.”
“Stop your prattling and fetch water at once.”
Yuri, a Knight with a composed demeanor, dismissed the flashy-looking Knight with a wave of his hand. The blonde-haired Knight adorned with piercings grumbled under his breath but trudged toward the Well.
“My apologies, Rohan. He’s not a bad sort, but as you can see, he lacks any semblance of tact.”
“Never mind. Just clean up before she arrives.”
“Will Miss Carina be joining us with the Support Unit?”
“Yes.”
“Understood. I should do my best to eliminate the scent of blood as well. She seemed rather sensitive to such things.”
No amount of water could truly wash away the stench, no matter how thoroughly I scrubbed the bloodstains.
Carina Leopold would undoubtedly smile without betraying a hint of discomfort, and I found myself reluctant to cause her further distress.
‘Perhaps I should have said something.’
Don’t die? That everything would be fine?
My silence stemmed not from indifference, but from the simple fact that I didn’t know what words could possibly suffice.
My breath caught in my throat, and my voice abandoned me. All I could do was hold her close.
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I couldn’t begin to fathom what she must have felt.
What emotions drove her smile? What stirred in her heart when she offered the dissolution of our engagement as a condition?
What could she have been feeling when she smiled without answer before me, speaking of futures that would never come to pass?
How many times had I wounded her under the guise of my own ignorance?
“You make a fool of a man.”
Millaiyen murmured softly to himself.
Carina Leopold had always been this way.
She arrived unannounced, catching me off guard in ways I never anticipated, and even now, at the end, she left me utterly speechless.
All I could offer was my presence beside her.
To soothe the seizures that seized her in the dead of night, standing at her side.
That was all. That was all I could give to Carina Leopold, who had even abandoned the Leopold name itself.
Carina desired nothing.
Nothing at all.
She neither wished for it nor spoke of it, and the emotions she harbored—she would likely never voice them, not even at the very end.
“Leave…”
Leave? To where?
After reducing me to this state, she was contemplating departure.
She had entered without permission, quietly nestled herself within me without consent, and now she meant to simply slip away.
‘Haron…’
So I had to save Haron. I needed Haron desperately. To keep her from leaving me.
It was the only key that could ease her suffering. The only method by which she might survive.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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