The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 23

“…No.”

Celonia refused, finding the idea extremely unpleasant.

She was annoyed that she had to back down, but considering his volatile temper, he might just obliterate the entire training ground if things didn’t go his way while wielding a sword.

Like what happened back then.

* * *

The Demon King, who had been effortlessly deflecting their attacks, failed to block Ian’s sudden strike and was cut on the arm.

“Ha.”

As Ian finally managed to wound the Demon King for the first time, a short, triumphant breath escaped his lips. The Demon King’s eyes flashed like lightning, burning with an intense fury, as if he had completely lost control, his eyes rolling back in his head.

Feeling a chilling sense of dread, they all instinctively retreated.

The Demon King immediately swung his hand, causing the earth to tremble violently. Dark magic surged from the ground, erupting in chaotic bursts across the training field.

The surging magic coalesced into a massive, amorphous shape and relentlessly pursued them.

The magic mass destroyed any obstacles in its path, stubbornly chasing after them.

“Damn it, Rayef!”

Realizing that they would eventually be caught if they kept running, MacRyan called out to Rayef. Understanding MacRyan’s intention at once, Rayef stopped in his tracks.

Both of them unleashed their power towards the onrushing wave of magic.

Rayef’s sword energy, imbued with divine power, and MacRyan’s dragon strength collided directly with the magic.

KWAANG!

A tremendous explosion erupted with a deafening roar, and a thick, white smoke enveloped the surroundings.

As the smoke cleared, a massive, sinkhole-like crater was visible on the ground where the explosion had occurred.

* * *

Celonia shuddered, her teeth chattering at the memory.

She never wanted to experience again how much she had struggled when the Demon King suddenly went berserk and unleashed his magic.

“I can take care of that with just a flick of my finger.”

“Yes, you could.”

Celonia knew it all too well.

However, seeing him gleefully giggling, completely oblivious to the fact that it was cheating, she simply gave up, unable to even begin to explain the problem.

The Demon King had been hovering around her for a week, with absolutely nothing else to do.

It would be fine if he just followed her around silently, but the problem was that he kept asking questions about everything he saw, driven by insatiable curiosity.

Having lost his memories, he was like a walking, talking question mark.

It seemed he had done absolutely nothing of substance during those three months of wandering, remaining completely ignorant about the world.

“Aren’t we going to the cafe today?”

Celonia asked bluntly, looking up at his face, which was so high up that her neck was starting to ache.

The cafe was her only hope of getting rid of him, even if just for a little while.

He had been going there every single day, without fail, receiving food and handing it out to people, just like he did that first time.

“I’m back.”

“When! I didn’t see you.”

“While you were asleep until noon.”

“…Noon, my foot.”

Her hope crumbled. He’d already been to the cafe, so he would follow her around all day today… She felt despair.

“What’s that?”

“……”

“What about this? And that?”

“……”

“Why are those people over there smacking their lips together?”

“Stop it…! Huh? Smacking what?”

She raised her voice, about to snap at the barrage of questions, but paused when she heard that last one, which was different from all the others. She turned her head in the direction he was looking.

There, in the shade of a tree, a knight and a female servant were kissing.

“Don’t kiss there! Do it where people can’t see you. Where people can’t see!”

Celonia couldn’t hold back and shouted at them.

They should have been hiding and doing it secretly. Even if it was in the shade, it was still a path where people passed by. Because of that, he had seen them and started asking questions again.

“So, what is that?”

“They’re just doing it because they like each other.”

“Like each other?”

“Yes.”

Celonia answered vaguely, giving up.

She didn’t have the energy to answer his questions anymore.

He was staring at the two men and women who were running away with bright red faces.

The actions of the two people were now etched in his mind.

* * *

Thanks to Gillian, who appeared like a savior, Celonia was able to escape from the Demon King and sit in the drawing room.

“Have you found out anything?”

“I investigated the Night Beast, but I couldn’t find out his real name or where he originally lived. I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t his fault. It was a problem that no one could figure out. How could anyone know when he himself didn’t?

“It’s okay. Did you find out anything else?”

“I confirmed that he first appeared in the capital three months ago and had been wandering around without a home, temporarily living in a shantytown.”

With a brief explanation, Gillian handed over the documents containing the information he had gathered.

Celonia took the paper and began to read.

There wasn’t much information; a single page was all there was about him.

Still, it contained information about why he was getting food from the cafe and sharing it with people.

He had only dealt with a criminal who had started a fight, but it turned out that the person who had been harmed by the guys he had dealt with was the cafe owner.

To express his gratitude, the owner promised to give him food for free every day, and since he didn’t eat the food himself, he gave it to the hungry children in front of the cafe.

“He has been connected to Rasudang Cafe ever since, and he is said to be sharing food with the people in the shantytown every day.”

“I see.”

“He has also dealt with quite a few criminals, and the common thing is that they started the fight first.”

The Night Beast had only dealt with the guys who had started the fight, but it turned out they were all criminals.

This was the inside story of how he became known as a righteous person.

Well, most people wouldn’t dare to pick a fight with him.

Except for the thugs who want to show off their strength.

‘I thought so.’

I expected it. No matter how much he had lost his memory, there was no way he would sincerely do good deeds for others.

That was the end of the information. It helped to know the reality of the Night Beast, but it was woefully insufficient.

It was clear that there would be nothing more to find even if I dug deeper.

“Lady Grace has no particular movements. There have been no strange incidents found yet.”

The other documents Gillian handed over had no worthwhile information either.

Not even a small clue was caught. It felt like losing my bearings in a foggy, vast ocean.

It didn’t seem like a series of events just happened, but what did I miss? I felt helpless.

“Lady Celonia, do you have any further questions?”

“No. Thank you for today. This is enough about the Night Beast, so please continue to look into Grace for the time being.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Celonia, who had snapped out of her thoughts, got up to see Gillian off.

“Then, I’ll be on my way.”

“Yes. Go carefully.”

Gillian bowed and left the sofa.

Celonia, who was going to stay in the drawing room a little longer to sort out her thoughts, was about to sit back down.

‘Hmm?’

A folded piece of parchment was lying on the opposite sofa.

It was where Gillian had been sitting. It must have fallen out of his pocket.

Celonia picked up the parchment from the soft sofa.

Then, she quickly opened the drawing room door and called out to Gillian’s retreating figure.

“Gillian, you dropped this.”

Gillian turned around naturally. It was at that moment.

The moment Gillian saw what was in her hand, his pupils dilated, and he rushed over to snatch the parchment away.

“Ah, ah. Thank you.”

He seemed surprised by his own actions, stuttering and looking very flustered.

“But what is it? It looks like a pretty old piece of paper. Perhaps, a letter from an old flame?”

Celonia smiled, averting her gaze from the parchment that had disappeared into his pocket in an instant.

“Ah, yes… something like that…”

Gillian hesitated, glancing at Celonia, trying to gauge her reaction.

Celonia met his gaze and nodded understandingly.

“I see. Be careful not to lose it. Go on now.”

“Ah, yes…”

Gillian, who had been intently studying her expression, flashed a chilling look and left the drawing room.

Click.

The door closed, and Celonia was left alone in the drawing room.

“…”

She slowly lowered herself, sat on the sofa, and leaned back.

‘It was definitely written there.’

The once-folded parchment had a slight gap, as if it hadn’t been pressed down firmly.

The moment she picked it up, Celonia saw it clearly.

The name Grace was written at the bottom of the parchment.

Moreover, a drawing presumed to be a magic circle [a geometric design used in rituals] was in the middle of the parchment.

‘A magic circle?’

Feeling something was off, she pretended not to see it, feigning ignorance, and asked if it was a letter from a lover.

Then, Gillian watched her reaction, trying to read her. As if trying to figure out if she had seen something written on the parchment.

It couldn’t be just a piece of paper that came up during the investigation of Grace.

If it were, there would be no magic circle drawn on the paper.

Besides, Gillian’s attitude.

No matter how many times she faced him, he always had the same expression.

It couldn’t even be called an expression. He was always so expressionless that it was impossible to read his thoughts.

But he stuttered and was flustered. It was very suspicious.

‘Something’s up.’