An Extra’s POV - Chapter 822

Chapter 822: Enjoying The Show
“So… with all of that settled, what exactly is my role in all this?” Rey asked, adjusting himself on his seat as he looked at Ater.

He had been informed, in great detail, about Ater’s strategy for crippling he Dragon Empire and advancing the overall salvation of H’Trae, but Rey was yet to understand where he fit into the puzzle.

‘Is there something I’m supposed to do, or…?’

“There’s no need for you to be bothered with such trivialities, Master.” Ater responded with a light smile, bowing slightly. “All you have to do is maintain your cover and continue acting like a student of the Imperial Academy.”

In essence, he was to sit back and enjoy the show.

“I see. Fair enough.” Rey said with a brief sigh before bouncing back to his feet.

“You’re leaving already, Master?”

“Yeah. I don’t want things to get too rowdy in the shelter before I return. If that happens, my clone could give me away, and I wouldn’t want that…”

“Ahh…” Ater nodded in understanding, though his expression still showed a hint of sadness at his Master’s departure.

“… I understand, Master.”

“Thank you… for the meal and everything else.” He patted Ater’s shoulder as he began walking towards the exit, a small smile on his face.

“I’m counting on you.”

“I will do my best, Master!”

The two interlocked gazes for a moment, which felt like an eternity, and they nodded at each other.

A second later, Rey had vanished from his position and was already on his way to the shelter.

***************

‘Huuu… I made it just in time.’

As Rey entered the shelter, everyone inside was frozen in time, thanks to re-initiating [Tempora]. As he suspected, he spent too much time with Ater in the camp, which resulted in the remnant army of the Dragon Empire to already be streaming into the shelter.

All the students were expected to gather together to welcome them, as well as hear out what they had to say, so if he had stayed about a minute longer, there was a good chance that his clone would have been discovered.

Of course, Rey knew he had a way around things, even if that were to happen, but he didn’t want to rely on it.

As a result, he was more than relieved that he was free from all manner of scrutiny.

Once he took the place of his doppelganger, he undid [Tempora] and swiftly brought down the earthen dome that he used to surround his clone.

The result?

“A-ahh… I was just about to break down the dome since you weren’t responding.” Adrien retorted, staring at Rey with a slightly stunned expression.

The latter merely smiled.

‘Yeah. I know… since I saw you before replacing the clone.’

He couldn’t tell that to Adrien, though, so he simply used the excuse that he gave him before.

“I was asleep. What’s going on?”

“Well, we’re all supposed to gather together. As in, all students… for the surviving soldiers that just returned from the battlefield.”

Rey also knew about that, but he acted oblivious.

“I see. Alright then… let’s go.”

Adrien made a face that showed he felt Rey was acting strange. However, with no way to prove it or justify his suspicion or confusion, he had to just go with it.

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

**************

[Moments Later]

‘This is crazy…’

Rey’s eyes widened as he counted the number of Dragons that stood before the students. Back when he was rushing to get to Ater, and then return to the shelter, he didn’t bother counting them.

But now that he had more time on his hands, he was able to.

… And their total number shocked him.

‘Just this few survived?!’

There were less than five thousand Dragons standing before them, and most of them were Dragon Soldiers. A few Commanders were sprinkled among the group, and only one General was left.

The General that they first encountered was nowhere to be seen.

‘So he’s already dead, huh?’ Rey thought to himself as he laid eyes on the female Dragon General that stood before the students and the rest of her fellow officers.

She was currently the highest-ranked Dragon in the Southern Continent, which meant she was under a great deal of pressure.

No one wanted to die, but not everyone could live.

Even the rations in the shelter could hardly be enough for a few nights, talkless of a whole ten days. At the moment, the Dragons were all looking for a superior to latch onto—or at least, blame.

As the room ventured into silence, the General addressed everyone, vividly explaining the horrors of the battlefield and how the slaughter of her fellow Generals and subordinates was.

Merely hearing it was enough to drive many to tears, or to completely break down.

This was hell.

She did a good job in assuring everyone that things would be fine, though. Rey knew it was all bullshit, but he nodded anyway.

The naive Dragon Newts, who would do anything to reach for hope, accepted her words of encouragement with full gullibility. Even some of the supervisors did the same, leaving only a few of them logical enough to understand the hoax they were being sold.

There was no hope left in the Southern Continent, and it was obvious.

The best course of action would be to retreat, but that in itself was largely impossible. Without soldiers holding the fort, the enemies would gain ground and pursue the Dragons who tried to escape.

Based on their sheer number and firepower—enough to decimate an entire army of Dragons—it was clear who would win in that chase.

Ultimately, they were all stuck at an impasse.

‘… Just as Ater wanted. That guy is such a wicked tactician.’ Rey smiled. He didn’t even know what would happen next, but he already knew it had to be well accounted for by his Familiar’s plan.

All he had to do was sit back and enjoy the show.

Looking around him, watching the sad and desolate faces of his ‘friends’ made that very difficult to do, though…

*************

“Fuck! Am I going to die here?!”

Mor’ucho, the usual optimistic student, was now yelling in fear and anxiety as he spoke to the classmates that sat with him.

Rey was among these people, along with Lu’ffa, Geo’rge, Cyn’dy, and the other students that were stuck in Group 1. A few of them were worried about Group 2, but most of them were more concerned with their own survival.

They were still very young, with ambitions and lofty goals that they desired to reach.

Just a day ago, they were drooling over the fun they would have in the Southern Continent, and the prospects that awaited them after the Excursion, during the Inter-Class Exchange.

But now? Now they just wanted to live.

They had all finished the slop that was their meal for the day, and while most of the students were still hungry, they didn’t crave the disgusting mush that was left of the rations.

“This is bad luck… horrible bad luck…” Geo’rge mumbled, itching his hair very violently, as his glasses kept dancing on his face.

He was usually very logical, yet he had relegated his fate to luck.

Cyn’dy was clinging to Rey, trying to get comfort from him. It was clear she had a huge crush on him, and now that she was scared for her life… she wanted some sort of assurance from him.

Of course, since he was trying to blend in well with the students, Rey had to play along.

He let her rest on him, and he even stroked her hair gently as she embraced him.

It wasn’t like he enjoyed it, or anything like that, but this was the role he had to play. It didn’t matter that her lush chest was pressing on him, and her soft skin kept rubbing against his.

No… this was for the mission.

As more of the students aired out their frustrations, Lu’ffa finally snapped and pointed an angry finger at one student who sat a distance from everyone and was busy having a light nap.

“It’s all his fault! HIS FAULT!”

The person Lu’ffa pointed at was none other than Adrien Chase.

“We’ve never had an incident like this in any of the previous Excursions. Guess what we’ve also never had? That’s right… a human student!”

As he uttered this, many of the students’ eyes widened—even ones that weren’t classmates with Lu’ffa.

They all turned and glared at Adrien.

If looks could kill, their hateful gaze would have caused him death a million times over.

Rey noticed all of this and saw it as his queue to intervene.

“Don’t start this, Lu’ffa… not now.”

“What, R’ai? Are you defending that piece of shit?” Lu’ffa scoffed with disbelief as he looked at Rey with surprise.

“Come to think of it… I saw you two talking earlier today.”

“Yeah… Are you his friend or something?”

All of Rey’s classmates stared at him with both contempt and surprise, but none of that affected him at all. He already expected this much from them.

“Yeah. We’re friends.”

As he said this, even Cyn’dy shifted away from him.

“You… you can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“B-but he’s human…”

“And? Don’t forget who his sponsor is. If you all treat him well, it’s possible to gain access to the Dragon Lord supporting him.”

“A-ahh…!”

All of a sudden, the looks of disdain and scorn that were pressed on him turned into amazement.

“Do you understand now? I’m not foolish enough to let go of this opportunity. If I get on his good side, I can get on the good side of a Dragon Lord. It’s too dangerous to antagonize him now…”

“I see… that makes sense.” Geo’rge muttered.

“I didn’t see it that way…” Lu’ffa mumbled.

“I always knew you were smart!” Cyn’dy resumed her ogling.

Rey smiled in relief as he managed to overturn the reactions of his classmates regarding his relationship with Adrien.

“But… all of this is simply assuming we leave here alive.” Mor’ucho just had to ruin everything with more pessimism.

However, Rey also had a response for that.

“Have some faith in our supervisors and the Dragon Military. We’ll all be fine, I’m sure!”