The Unrecorded Extra



While talking with Ruby about the Tearfall, I caught something from the corner of my eye. 

Across from this building was a taller building by two-story. Through the screen of glasses of the building, I watched a group of five standing near the edge of the rooftop. I recognized one of them without using my Clairvoyance.

Black hair, brown eyes, delicate body hidden under her black fur warm coat. She was the villain that launched an attack on the Himalayas Expedition but disappeared as soon as the conflict started.

Valka Ignatyeva. Her overall stats were <A>.

With the help of my Clairvoyance, I could identify the rest of them.

The big guy whose body looked like a bear was Ivan. Ivan Petrov. His overall stats were the same as Valka's.

A little girl, 12 years old, with blonde hair styled in long twin tails. Zoe Bryne. An overall <E> rank stats except for her Intelligence and Mental which were <A+>.

Flamboyant man with blonde hair and blue ocean eyes. Martin Palmiero. An overall <B> rank stats.

Lastly, a man who was exuded an indifferent aura. His hair was a notable feature, styled in a striking and unconventional manner. It was short and brown, with asymmetrical bangs that partially cover his forehead.

Günter Goldberg. His overall stats were <S>.

As they were about to leave, Ruby's weak voice had me turn my attention to her. When I did that, I caught a glimpse of Valka staring in our direction with a condensed intensity before she and her crew disappeared from the rooftop.

"What are you looking at?"

"It's nothing."

I said as I shook my head slowly.

Raising the vial containing a mixture of red and yellow color liquid (Tearfall), I said,

"Anyway, shall we start for your recovery?"

Ruby raised her hand, stopping me as I was about to approach her. Her hand trembled a little as she did that, showing how weak she was right now.

"I'm feeling dizzy right now. I don't think I can focus on meditation… So, can you put it on the table for now?"

A tingling sensation crept inside my head, noting that Ruby was uttering a lie just now. I raised my eyebrow in response to my Lie Detection. My mind filled with questions about why she lied to me.

But in the end, I comply with her request.

"Fine…"

With a dejected sigh, I put the vial on the bedside table.

While I did that, I caught Ruby talking to an empty air in a low voice almost like a whisper. I recalled the event when Reina told me I was talking to an empty instead of Zia when I saw that.

At that moment, I was thinking about the possibility. Does Ruby have the same circumstance as me? Seeing a thing that other people couldn't see, that is.

Noticing my gaze, Ruby flinched and stopped her talk-to-ghost activity almost immediately.

I almost chuckled when she smiled innocently afterward like nothing was happening at all.

Actually, it had been the thirtieth time I caught her talking to an empty air. My suspicion grew day by day every time afterward. Either she was like me, talking to a ghost or spirit, or it could be her skill too. Though, as far as I know, she wasn't a necromancer.

Yeah. Talking to a ghost or spirit, I could do that. In these past two months, I had finally found out who— what Zia was. She was a ghost. And I could see her because of Clairvoyance. But, why couldn't I see what or who Ruby was talking to? Which left me confused.

If whatever Ruby talked to wasn't a ghost or related to her skill, then what was it?

I had a short talk with Ruby for a while before I left for another matter I needed to attend to.

"It's been such a nice time talking with you, brother— I, I mean Zio!"

I just smiled in response. Just how much did her brother, Aster's death affect her? I was afraid that the effect would be the same as how Aster lost his family in the novel. 

That was one of many reasons I occasionally visited Ruby, making sure she didn't take the same path as Aster did in the novel. Because if she was taking the same path as him, that would be extremely annoying to have her as an enemy.

"You must have loved your brother so much."

"I do. He is so kind and humble to everyone. For me, he's the true hero."

I only nodded, not knowing what should I say in response. After reminding her about the Tearfall, I bid my goodbye.

Finding myself outside the health & treatment facility room, I took out a book from my storage cube and scribbled something on it.

Valka, Ivan, Martin, Zoe, and Gunter. In the novel, they were known as The Seven Pillars of Utopia, the future villain's organization that separated themselves from Dystopia and eventually crushed them.

Those five and the other two were the founders of Utopia. But, right now, they were no mere than Dystopia's Combat Division led by that black-haired girl, Valka.

I had no idea what they were doing here in the USA. Were they spying on the Ustrina guild? Did they know about Ruby's potential as SS-rank Enhanced? Was their mission here to kidnap Ruby?

Whatever their mission was. One thing I had to note was that the villains were starting to make their move after seeing them.

I sketched all of their faces in my journal book. When I finished, my eyes locked on the particular face sketch. It was a sketch of Gunter's face.

'Gunter. The leader of Utopia.'

 ***

Staring at the door where Zio had left, Ruby let out a long breath.

On her right side, floating in the air, was a man whose body was transparent. Like Gunter, that transparent man had a distinctive hairstyle, and even their appearances were similar. 

What was different was their form. One was a human and alive. The other was a spirit, presumably dead.

"That boy is quite perceptive."

His brow and the corner of his mouth perked up as the spirit spoke, intrigued by Zio.

"What do you mean?"

"I told you earlier that someone is spying on us on the building over there, right?"

Ruby nodded her head yet raised her eyebrow at the same time, not quite catching what the spirit wanted to say.

Noticing Ruby's confused face, the spirit hovered around her counterclockwise.

"What I'm saying is that boy does have an amazing sight and perception. To be able to notice and even locate Valka like that is quite an achievement, I would say."

Finally, Ruby understood what the spirit wanted to tell her.

Adhering to her assumption, she thought the spirit wanted to tell her about how unique Zio was because of his sight and perception. But, Ruby slightly misunderstood the part where she thought the spirit was complimenting him.

In fact, the spirit was intrigued and cautious about Zio's identity. His existence was a variable that the spirit didn't know.

"I see…"

Ruby stared at the rooftop building across from her through the screen of glasses.

"You say that she was your friend, right? And that she is a villain. So, does it mean you're one too?"

There was a coldness in Ruby's voice as she said that.

Despite that, the spirit didn't flinch. Well, he knew he was already dead so why would he be afraid of a little brat like her? And, what kind of conqueror was afraid of a girl who just got her period?

"That's what society calls us, a villain. Though, I identified my group as a vigilante rather than a villain. We decide what is right and what is wrong. Both hero and villain organizations are wrong, so we decided to fight against them."

"Uh-huh… Now that I think about it, when will you tell me about the rest of your story?"

The spirit stopped moving in a circle, instead, he did some strange poses as sitting in a reversed position, his head facing the floor while his legs facing the ceilings.

"Oh, right. How far have I told you?"

Ruby smiled sheepishly while fidgeting her fingers.

"I forgot… Why don't you start over from the beginning?"

"Huh, I guess I should. Oh right, you'd be better take that potion as soon as possible. Just as that boy said, this potion has an amazing recovery effect it could even cure your chronic disease. But, huh, I wonder how did he get his hand on this potion. Did the Immoral Alchemist regress? Or is it that clumsy swordsman boy?"

Shaking his thoughts away, the spirit turned to face Ruby. They were both ready to immerse in the story that the spirit was about to tell.

"So, at the beginning, huh?"

Clearing his throat, the spirit began telling his story.

"Once upon a time, there was an orphan boy who live his life happily in the orphanage, until that incident befell him…"

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