The Reincarnated Extra
chapter-20

1. The Persistent Wolf and the Stubborn Vagrant Child’s Life-or-Death Game of Tag. And Then, a Mysterious Old Man Appears!

* * *

The Reincarnated Extra, Arc 3 begins.

Continuing on.

Yes, it continues.

Autumn!

The leaves of the trees sparsely growing from the mountain side, strewn with large, rugged rocks, are turning red these days!

Cutting through the cold air! Like the wind, causing the fallen leaves to whirl up! I am running! At full speed, no less!

Because!

“GYAOOO!!”

“…Yo…ot!”

I elegantly dodge the sharp claws swung down at me by the wolf leaping towards me with a roar, by squatting down!

Yeah, I’m saying it myself – elegantly!

Then, making a right angle turn, I continue my escape!

That’s right!

I am currently, fervently fleeing from this persistent “Grim Wolf” monster!

This creature is called a “Grim Wolf” because it’s as persistent as the Grim Reaper, never letting its prey escape once targeted. It’s like a stalker!

I’ve been attacked by various monsters up to today, but when it comes to persistence, this one tops them all!

We’ve been playing this game of tag for about 3 hours now! 3 hours, can you believe it?

The tenacity of this stalker wolf chasing me for such a long time is abnormal!

But I think my vitality to keep running is pretty impressive, too. I must be the world’s most stubborn 6-year-old!

Oh, speaking of which, I just turned 6 the other day. I celebrated with Extra-sama with a cake (sort of) made by stacking red bugs on top of a base of compacted white bugs (it looked like a cake from afar). Yay!

It’s been several months since I left my home village (or rather, forest)…

You might think, “What? You’re still wandering? Didn’t you enter a village or town?” but it’s not that I didn’t enter; I couldn’t.

After losing what Extra-sama called “the safest base imaginable,” Naso Forest, I would have loved to live in some village or town.

I wanted to, but I couldn’t.

The reason being, the destruction of the trash village apparently shocked the nearby towns, raising their alert levels. They wouldn’t easily accept a suspicious vagrant child without an ID, that’s reason number one.

And more importantly, reason number two is the intense discrimination against “cursed children” with black hair and eyes, far more than I had anticipated.

I never expected to be chased away with spears by gatekeepers without even hearing me out!

I thought the discrimination against black hair and eyes was just the villagers being too provincial and showing a knee-jerk reaction to anything different, but it seems it’s not that simple.

The root of this problem is deep. Extra-sama says she “hasn’t seen it in isekai broadcasts,” so we don’t know the reason for the discrimination.

Why has it come to this?

Well, as I was aimlessly wandering, this persistent stalker wolf set its eyes on me in a meadow 3 hours ago.

Since then, I’ve crossed rivers, passed through forests, and have been playing a deadly game of tag, running through some mountain now.

Seriously, where am I?!

“GYAOOO!!”

“…Ho… and now!”

I dodge the Grim Wolf’s attack for what feels like the umpteenth time.

This guy is dumb; he always shouts before attacking.

Once I figured that out, dodging his claws became easy.

His hunting skills are terrible. I guess the Grim Wolves evolved to think, “If we have the stamina to chase our prey until it tires out, isn’t that good enough?” instead of improving their hunting skills.

No, improve your hunting skills!

For now, the plan is the same as before. Dodge the claws by squatting, then change direction and run, creating distance from the wolf when it’s vulnerable!

And then, ah…

<Ahh! Emi!>

Extra-sama couldn’t help but scream. Yes, I had forgotten. Chased by the Grim Wolf, I found myself on the mountainside somewhere, with uneven, rocky terrain underfoot, full of bumps and dips.

I tripped over a rock protruding from the ground and fell, tumbling down.

Though I haven’t yet acquired the civilization’s boon known as shoes, hitting my bare feet hard against the rocks is okay. Thanks to the recent improvements in my 【Physical Enhancement】, my body won’t suffer a single scratch from such things. But…

I get up. The wolf that had crept close locks eyes with me. Its jet-black fur and glowing red eyes stand out starkly. Drooling its smelly saliva, licking its lips, it’s the spitting image of an evil Grim Reaper. But don’t get cocky, stalker wolf! This is a rocky area! In other words, a treasure trove of my main weapon!

I pick up pebbles rolling around and immediately start slinging them, 【Stone Throwing】, 【Stone Throwing】, 【Stone Throwing】, 【Stone Throwing】, 【Stone Throwing】iiiiiiing!!

A barrage of pebbles rains down on the wolf. But this guy, even when hit by the pebbles, only looks slightly annoyed and doesn’t seem to show any signs of pain.

Ah, this is bad. Just like that messy thief leader trash guy. This wolf, thanks to its 【Physical Enhancement】, isn’t affected by my 【Stone Throwing】. Oh no, seriously, am I out of options here?

<What are you doing so leisurely for! You need to run away again… quickly!>

Yeah, I know. But, this is bad. My physical and magical energies are both at their limits. My legs are trembling and won’t move.

The moment I realize this, the fear of death assaults me. This trembling isn’t just from fatigue, I realize belatedly. Memories of the trash village, trampled and destroyed by monsters, come flooding back. The villagers’ bodies, carelessly devoured and strewn about. Just because I’m weak, am I going to die here just like them?

“GYAOOO!!”

The Grim Wolf leaps at me.

It seems impossible to dodge.

Time feels like it’s moving slowly.

Memories of this life flash through my mind.

This must be what they call your life flashing before your eyes.

My father, hitting young me.

My mother, who left me to follow a handsome peddler.

The village children, including Torch-kun, playing happily out of my reach.

The village adults who threw stones at me and chased me out of the village.

The thieves who took away my base…

…Not a single good memory to be found!!!

I refuse to die here!

I will not die in a place like this!!!

I will survive and eat delicious feasts with Extra-sama!!!

But alas! There’s no way for me to avoid these lethal claws!

The Grim Reaper’s claws, aiming for my throat, draw closer by the moment.

I don’t want this.

I don’t want to die.

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!!!

Contrary to my paralyzed body, my thoughts are spinning at hyper speed.

The next moment, everything went white.

No, I didn’t die.

I just couldn’t keep up with the abrupt turn of events.

But what happened is clearly etched in my eyes.

Against the Grim Wolf that was leaping towards me,

there was a person who launched a surprise attack from the side.

A hand chop, in a flash.

With just that, the neck of the monster, which was too tough to be affected by my 【Stone Throwing】, was severed from its body and flew off somewhere. The body, continuing its momentum, collided with me. Covered in the wolf’s blood, I rolled around.

Without understanding what had just happened, I lifted my face to look up at the person who saved me.

A relatively slim figure, but the muscles, clearly well-trained, were visible through the clothing. On his face and throughout his body, numerous old scars could be seen. His face was rugged with deep wrinkles, and his swirling white hair was combed back. And then, those sharp eyes that seemed like they could kill with just a glare.

Such an “embodiment of fierceness,” an old man with tremendous presence, stood there.

From his body emanated a magical power. And then, a murderous intent.

Struck by that murderous intent, the moment our eyes met…

I had lost consciousness.